Blood Sacrifice
by cheri1
Summary: 10Rose. This is the fourth story in the Vampire Doctor series. The others are The Blood Red Rose, Endless Night, and A Day in the Undeath. The Doctor and Rose travel to Hungary and battle a countess who is obsessed with obtaining the blood of virgin women. FINISHED.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story is the forth in a series of stories about the vampire Doctor. The other stories in order are The Blood Red Rose, Endless Night and A Day In The Undeath.

Chapter One

(Csejte Castle, Hungary, 1609…)

"Let me out of here!"

The frantic girl slapped her hands against the bars of her prison cell while she screamed at the top of her lungs for someone, anyone to free her. She was nearly hoarse now, but she kept on yelling, hoping that someone would take pity on her and take her away from this hell. She had come to the castle three months ago, an innocent naïve peasant girl. She had heard that there was good money to be made here working as a maid. The woman who had brought her here promised her that she would be taken care of and paid handsomely for her service to the Countess. Instead, she had been plunged into a nightmare. A never-ending cycle of beatings, burnings, and starvation. She had tried to find someone in the castle who would be sympathetic to her plight, but everyone seemed to be in on it. When she was thrown into the dungeons, there had been several other young women in the cells, but one by one, they had been taken away and never heard from again. Now, only the rats kept her company. She spent her nights sitting in the dark, moldy corner of her cell, weeping and praying to God to be merciful and give her a means of escape.

Finally, she saw someone come into the dungeon. Two burly guards with menace in their eyes walked towards her cell.

"Please, sirs, help me. Set me free and my father will find a way to reward you," she said.

The guards chuckled. One of them unlocked the door and they stepped in.

"No, please don't do this."

"Come along, little one. The Countess doesn't like to be kept waiting when it's her bath time."

They seized her wrists and arms. The woman screamed and tried to get away, but they jerked on her arms and pulled her out of the cell. She tried to wriggle free, but they held her in a vice-like grip and forced her to walk with them out of the dungeon and down a corridor to a heavy wooden door.

"Where am I going? Where are you taking me?" the woman demanded.

The guards said nothing. They reached the door, opened it, and the woman nearly gagged at the stench inside. The room was windowless and claustrophobic. The only light came from four flaming torches that were mounted on the walls around the room. In the corner was a large cast iron bathtub that had red stains all over it. On the other side of the room sat two large wooden buckets and chains and manacles that hung down from the ceiling beside it. The woman's heart raced when the guards forced her over towards the manacles. They locked her wrists and began to cut her dirty, flimsy dress off her body with daggers. The woman screamed and tried to get away from them, but all she got for her troubles was a beating. Realizing she couldn't escape, she stood still and let the guards finish while they snickered and taunted her.

They stripped her bare and stepped away, making lude comments about her pubic hair while the woman wept.

"It's too bad we can't have out way with her before the Countess comes," one of the guards said.

"Eh, you know we can't. They have to be virgins. We deflower her; we might be the next ones to end up in the bathtub."

"What do you mean by that?" the woman said.

The guard chuckled.

"Means you're gonna help the Countess take her bath, little miss," he said.

They laughed when she gave them a blank look.

"Don't worry, you'll find out what we mean," the guard said, nudging his companion in the ribs.

"That will be all, guards. You can go make your crass comments elsewhere."

They turned when an elegantly dressed woman stepped into the room, followed by her four maidservants. They bowed.

"Yes, Countess," they said, in unison.

The women stepped aside and watched while the guards quickly exited from the room. Then they turned their attention to the struggling girl in the corner.

"Well, well, it seems you are the last, Elisabeta, how tragic. Seems I shall have to find more young women now. I must keep up my beauty regimen, you know," the Countess said.

Elisabeta stared at her. She was in her late forties, but she looked like she was twenty years younger than that. Her long brown hair was swept up into a bun and her thin lips were twisted into a sneer while she looked at her naked body. The dress she was wearing was velvet and blood red in color, making her alabaster skin look even more pale and corpse-like. Her dark eyes bored into her, cold and calculating, and Elisabeta shivered. She raised a hand and ran her long, thin finger down the girl's cheek.

"Scared, my dear?" she said.

"Yes."

"There is no reason to be. You are about to serve me and by doing so, bring honor to your family."

"What do you mean?"

A mirthless smile spread across her face.

"You are going to give your life for me, just like all the others."

Elisabeta's breath caught in her throat and she shook her head.

"No, my lady, please. Spare me."

The Countess said nothing. She turned and looked at her maidservants.

"Katalin, will you do the honor?" she said, sweetly.

Katalin started to back away, but was punched in the back by one of the other women.

"Obey the Countess," she snarled, as she handed her a dagger.

Katalin swallowed hard and approached the trembling woman. Elisabeta's eyes bulged and her breath quickened when she saw the knife in her hand.

"No, my lady, please. Please, I'll do anything, just let me li…"

Her plea was interrupted when Katalin slit open her throat. Her eyes widened while she gurgled and gasped for air. Completely unconcerned, one of the maidservants grabbed a bucket and held it under the wound, letting the blood run into it. The Countess smiled as she listened to Elisabeta breathe her last breath.

"Thank you, my dear, for your devoted service to your Countess," she said, as the blood ran out into the bucket.

Rose yawned, stretched, and opened her eyes. Another night had come and gone on the TARDIS, relatively speaking. She said her usual good morning to the TARDIS, got up and got dressed for another adventure-filled day with the Doctor. She dressed in a red t-shirt, jeans, and trainers. She brushed her hair, applied some makeup, and satisfied that she looked presentable; she headed out the door towards the console room.

She entered and found the Doctor standing in his usual place by the console. He noticed her walking towards him and grinned.

"Listen to this," he said, imitating Bela Lugosi while he pointed to the rotor. "TARDIS of the night, what sweet music it makes."

Rose returned the grin.

"Playing at being Dracula again?" she asked.

"I don't play, I _am_ Dracula."

He bared his fangs, rose a couple of inches off the ground, and glided towards her, opening his trench coat up like a cape. He made a hissing noise as he floated in the air in front of her.

"Look into my eyes, you are getting sleepy, my pet," he said. "Soon you will be in my power and then I shall feed. Be mine, blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh."

"Dork of my dork, geek of my geek," Rose said.

"Oi! Watch it, missy, or you'll find my fangs embedded in your neck."

He made another hissing sound and spread his trench coat wider while he leaned down towards her neck.

"You so much as nick me with those things and I'll pull them out by the roots," Rose said.

The Doctor feigned fear and floated away from her. He smiled when Rose giggled. Suddenly, without warning, he flew in, grabbed her under her arms, and shot up towards the ceiling. Rose let out a delighted yell while the Doctor chuckled.

"So," he said to her, as he glided around the room. "Where are we going today, my mortal lover?"

"How about…we go see Van Helsing? I'm sure he'd love to meet you."

"Nah, I'm not interested in meeting Hugh Jackman, pick something else."

He sniggered when Rose rolled her eyes.

"Wasn't meaning that Van Helsing, but oh well, how about…somewhere romantic for a change?"

"Such as?"

She smiled.

"How about…somewhere where we can see a castle?"

"England?"

Rose made a face.

"No, somewhere else."

"France?"

"Um…nah."

"Germany?"

"No."

"Well, where then?"

"I don't know, somewhere where we've never been before."

The Doctor thought, then an evil grin spread over his face.

"Somewhere with castles, eh?" he said.

"Ought-oh, why do I have a bad feeling about this? Where do you wanna take me?"

"Somewhere with castles," the Doctor said, innocently.

He descended towards the monitor.

"And the somewhere would be…"

"Somewhere with castles."

He touched down in front of the monitor and began inputting a destination.

"Where, Doctor?"

"For the hundredth time, somewhere with castles, like you wanted. Nice castles too, great big ones."

"Yes, but what's the catch here? Why won't you tell me where the castles are?"

"It's a surprise."

"Yeah, you're taking me to Mars or something, aren't you?"

"You'll see."

Rose sighed.

"I'm not gonna get the truth outta ya, am I?"

"Nope," he said, popping the p.

"Not even if I throw holy water in your face?"

"Nah, holy water is an old wives tale, doesn't affect me in the least. Neither does garlic or crosses. We're not near any suns and you don't have any wooden stakes or silver bullets on your person. So sorry, Rose, 'fraid you're just gonna have to wait and see."

"Oh goody, I can't wait," Rose muttered.

The Doctor chuckled, wrapped his arm around her, and rubbed her side while the TARDIS flew them to their next destination.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"And here we are, place with castles," the Doctor said, as the TARDIS powered down, "just as you requested."

He reached into his trouser pocket, turned on his protective force field and stuck it down deep inside.

"Come along," he said, with a twinkle in his eyes.

"This better not be some weird planet with tons of monsters everywhere you look."

"Rose, I'm offended. You speak as though I enjoy going to a place like that."

He sniggered when Rose rolled her eyes.

"Nah, it's not some strange planet. It's Earth, approximately…Oooo….early 17th century. That way the castles are newer looking and more impressive. And…we won't be running into any pissed off vampires that may have survived our little communal barbecue. However, we may be running into non-pissed off vampires that just happen to be hanging around, but that can't be helped."

"So, this place you're taking me to, it's filled with vampires, is it?"

The Doctor paused.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeh, yeeeeees, but that could be any place; vampires exist all over the world in most cultures. So, that still doesn't tell you where we're at, now does it?"

"Transylvania."

The Doctor froze. He quickly adopted a nonchalant air.

"What makes you say that, Rose?" he said.

"Because I know you and your weird sense of humor. You've taken me to see Count Dracula in Transylvania, haven't you?"

"Um…Noooooo. Because, funnily enough, Count Dracula doesn't exist. He's a character in a gothic novel. See, I know this might come as a shock to you, but not everything you see on TV or at the movies is real. There is an interesting concept that has been floating around almost from the time man came down from the trees. It's called making up stories for the amusement of others. Now, I realize that Dracula is based on Vlad Tsepish, otherwise known as Vlad the Impaler, and perhaps you got confused and thought Vlad was really Count Dracula and yes, Dracula was his nickname, but he wasn't a vampire. He was a certifiable loon who loved to shove sharp sticks up people's arses and eat supper while he watched them slide down them. Nothing to do with vampires in any way, shape, or form. Now, I hope that's cleared up the confusion and shed a little more light on the culture of my people."

"Yes, thanks for clearing everything up," Rose said, dryly.

He patted her on the head.

"Anytime, my little air breather. Now that I've got that out of the way, you're right, this is Transylvania."

"I knew it! I knew you couldn't resist taking me to vampire central."

"Now, wait just a moment, the only reason Transylvania is known as vampire central, as you call it, is because of the Dracula novel. This place isn't swarming with bloodsuckers. It has just as many vampires per capita as other countries do. Trust me, when we step outside, giant vampire bats will not come swooping down and attach themselves to us, and the undead will not jump out from behind buildings and immediately put you in their power. I admit I did bring you here partly because I couldn't resist the whole Transylvania gag, but there are also beautiful castles here, not to mention the scenery is breathtaking and the people are extremely friendly. I think you'll love it here, Rose, which is the most important thing for me. But, if you want to go somewhere else…"

"No, this is fine, really. I'd love to see Transylvania."

"You sure? Because I want you to enjoy yourself and not freak out and think it's a vampire every time you see a strange shadow or hear a weird noise."

"Nah, I won't do that. 'Sides, you can sense vampires before they get a chance to attack us, so I'm not worried."

"Good. Then will you accompany me outside?"

"I would love to."

He took her hand and they walked towards the door.

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Rose soon regretted her decision to step outside wearing her everyday clothes. As they walked through the village, everyone stopped and stared at her and the Doctor. The Doctor, naturally, paid no attention to them, but Rose was painfully aware of how abnormal she looked to them in her jeans and t-shirt. She considered telling the Doctor she was going back to the TARDIS to change when he suddenly pulled her into a building. Once they were inside, she looked around and determined it was an inn. The Doctor headed up to the front desk, ignoring the surprised look on the clerk's face.

"Excuse me, my friend and I are visiting here and we were wondering where the nearest castle was?" the Doctor said.

The clerk glared at him.

"Are you gypsies?" he said, pointing to their outfits.

The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I am. I was born in the wagon of a travelling show. My mama used to dance for the money they'd throw. Papa would do whatever he could. Preach a little gospel; sell a couple bottles of Doctor Good. Now that we got that out of the way, can you please tell us where the nearest castle is?"

"We don't allow gypsies in here."

The Doctor sighed.

"We're not looking for lodging. All I want to know is where are the castles? Hunedoara Castle, Bran Castle, Poenari Castle, you know, the castles in your country? Where are they?"

The clerk frowned.

"There are no castles by those names in Magyarország."

The Doctor did a double take.

"We're in Magyarország?"

"Yes, you are."

Rose glanced at the Doctor.

"Where is…whatever you just said?" she asked.

The Doctor gave her a sheepish look.

"Um… Magyarország is the Hungarian name for their country," he said.

"Hungary? Transylvania's not in Hungary, right?"

The clerk snorted.

"Of course not, you stupid girl. Transylvania is in Romania. Idiot gypsy. If you are looking to meet up with more of your kind, then I will gladly point the way back to Transylvania, so we won't have to put up with you here."

"Look, buddy, just tell us where the nearest castle is and we'll leave your fine establishment."

"Why do you want to know? Are you gonna cause trouble?"

"Well…um…not on purpose, I suppose. Trouble does have a way of following us around, but that's beside the point. No, the reason we want to see a castle is because we are sightseeing. We decided to come to your beautiful country and marvel at your castles. We won't make trouble, we just want to see a castle and leave, now…I will ask one more time, do you know of any castles nearby?"

The clerk sighed.

"Fine, anything to get you out of my inn. The nearest one is Csejte Castle, but you would be wise to stay away from it."

"Why? Afraid we might get gypsy germs all over the battlements?"

"The castle has a bad reputation. People go in and never come out."

He smirked.

"Although, I suppose in your case that would be a good thing."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes.

"I'll just overlook that snide remark, give you polite thanks that you don't deserve and we'll be on our way. I would hate for potential customers to be scared away because a couple of scary looking gypsies were standing in the lobby asking questions. Come along, Rose, perhaps we can find the village square and do sword swallowing and fortune telling for souvenir money. Maybe read some tealeaves and do a bit of phrenology on the side. You know how we gypsies like to put on a show for the public."

He put his hand on the small of her back and led her outside. The clerk shook his head, muttered under his breath about gypsy scum mixing with normal people, and went back to work.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Dorottya Szentes walked among the people inhabiting the tiny village near Csejte Castle looking for more virgins for her Lady. The problem was the Countess had used so many; the young women in the village were now becoming scarce. Still, she would carry out her orders and find more girls for her mistress's beauty regimen.

As she walked along, she suddenly noticed a young girl emerging from an old, run-down wooden house. Even better, the girl looked to be no more than twelve years old. Her long black hair flowed in the breeze as she walked along, enticing Dorottya even more. She was so young and beautiful; the mistress would reward her greatly for bringing her to the castle. An evil smile spread onto her face and she began to follow her.

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"So, we're off to Csejte Castle then?" Rose said.

"Yes, I guess so…"

Rose stared at him. He had an odd look on his face.

"What's wrong?" she said.

"Csejte Castle. I've heard that name before, but I can't think where I know it from."

"Maybe it's just a name of a castle you know. You knew the names of all those Romanian castles."

"Yes, but for some reason, Csejte Castle sticks out in my mind as being a significant place. Bollocks, I wish I could remember. I hate when this happens."

"Getting Alzheimer's disease in your old age, are you?" Rose said. "Don't worry; it happens to the best of us."

"N'yuk, n'yuk," he said, when Rose giggled. "No, actually what's wrong is I'm just so knowledgeable about everything that some things get lost in the shuffle. Course you don't have to worry about something like that, do you?"

It was his turn to snigger while Rose shot him a dirty look.

"You know, I see a bunch of trees around here. I could go and make a couple of stakes from one of them and ram you through your hearts."

"Ah, but then you'd be stuck here in spoooooooky vampire central, so think about that before you go after me with the stakes, eh?"

He tickled her under the chin.

"Well, come on, my associate; let's go have a gander at the castles."

He turned and froze when he noticed a man standing in front of him.

"Um, hello, were you wanting something?" the Doctor said.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor and this is Rose, who are you?"

"My name is Janos; I am the constable for this village. What business do you have here?"

"Well, my friend Rose and I were on our way to see one of your fine castles, and--"

"I haven't seen either one of you before. Are you here to make trouble?"

The Doctor sighed.

"No, we are not here to make trouble of any kind. We are just passing through, and--"

"Then keep passing through, we don't want the likes of you and your friend here! You have an hour to get out of the town, or I'll get a group of men together and force you out."

He turned and walked away from them. The Doctor gritted his teeth.

"Resist the urge to bite, resist the urge to bite, resist the urge to bite," he muttered under his breath.

He paused a moment.

"Nah, I'll just take a little nip, do the git some good."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a moment," Rose said, stepping in front of him when he started to follow the man. "Keep your fangs to yourself and let it go."

"But the man is just begging for a nip on the neck. A little blood loss will do him and me some good."

"No. Let it go, you had your breakfast earlier."

"Yeah, but artificial blood doesn't taste as good as the real thing."

"Tough, I'm not about to get arrested on purpose, let's just go and see this castle."

"Oh, all right," the Doctor said, pouting, as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

He smiled at Rose.

"How about you? Can I have a bit of blood from you?" he said.

"Not if you want to live."

"I'm not living."

"Okay, not if you want to exist then."

"Bugger, my mate is supposed to provide me with blood whenever I require it."

"Well, I guess I'm a lousy mate then."

The Doctor grinned and hugged her from behind.

"Nah, you're not. You're a great mate, the best I ever had."

Rose smiled and kissed his lips.

"Shall we go to the castle?" she asked.

"We shall. Lead on, my mortal Rose."

She took his hand and they headed out of town.

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Dorottya smiled, as she neared closer to her prey. The girl carried a small basket and walked door to door selling baked goods to the other villagers. She snorted. She had lived most of her life in the castle and had everything provided for her, so she never had to resort to doing humiliating things like this. She inspected the girl and saw how thin she was. Poor thing probably never had a decent meal in her life. Well, perhaps her Lady would allow her to eat properly before she gave her life; it was only fair considering the sacrifice she was going to be making.

She took a handkerchief soaked with laudanum out of her pocket and held it in her hand while she crept towards her.

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"So, how do you like the village so far?"

"I don't."

The Doctor looked at her.

"What? You don't like people running up, jabbing their fingers in our faces, and screaming, filthy gypsies? I think it adds to the whole travel experience. There's nothing like visiting a town where everyone shuns you and spats in your face. That's something you never see on Michael Palin's travel shows, eh? No one ever runs up to Michael, spats in his face, and tells him to get his British ass out of their town before they tar and feather him. 'Course Michael would probably just smile pleasantly and comment on how hospitable the people all are and how beautiful the country is, then run to the nearest pub and have a pint before moving on to the next country. I find that boring, personally. I'm more a hands-on sort of bloke. Come into town, stir up some trouble, kick a few evil arses and _then_ go to the pub and have a pint. Much more exciting. And speaking of excitement, where is this castle the innkeeper spoke so enthusiastically about. I suppose we could trouble some more people for directions, although I guess we would have to hear, get out of my face filthy gypsies again, and--"

He was cut short when Rose tugged on his trench coat. He looked at her and saw she was frantically pointing off to her left. The Doctor looked over and noticed a woman dragging a little girl out of the village towards the woods. The woman had a handkerchief over the girl's mouth. The girl was struggling, but he could see she was slowly passing out from whatever was in the cloth.

"Right and this is the part where we kick the evil arses!" the Doctor said.

He and Rose ran towards her.

"Stop struggling, you're only making this harder on yourself," Dorottya snarled in the girl's ear.

She noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see a man and a woman barreling down on her. She dropped the girl to the ground, reached under her dress, and pulled a dagger from a scabbard strapped to her upper leg. She tried to slice the Doctor's neck, but he quickly dodged and grabbed her leg. The woman gasped when he jerked her off her feet. She took another swing at his face while Rose grabbed the semi-conscious girl under the arms and dragged her to safety.

"How dare you interfere with my mission," Dorottya said, as she sprung to her feet.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize I was bothering you and your kidnapping of a defenseless young girl. My bad."

He dodged when she took another swing at him.

"You know, messing with me is a very bad idea," the Doctor said.

Dorottya snorted.

"I have been trained to fight with both sword and dagger, and I have bested many men. A thin, little reed like you will be no match for me."

"Yes, but you're forgetting one thing."

"And that is?"

The Doctor grinned.

"I have a partner."

Dorottya grunted when Rose suddenly slammed into her from behind. The Doctor caught her by the front of the neck and lifted her a few inches off the ground while Rose jerked the dagger out of her grasp.

"Now, as I was saying, it's a very bad idea to make me angry," he said, to the gasping woman. "Especially since you have no idea what I am and what I can really do. Believe it or not, I'm holding back right now. If I showed you my full strength, you wouldn't be alive right now. Now, be a wise woman, go back to wherever it is you came from and stop kidnapping little girls off the street."

"And what if I don't?"

"RAAAAH!"

She gasped when the Doctor yelled at her. For a second, it seemed as if his face had contorted and became demon-like. But, it happened so fast, that Dorottya wondered if it had really happened. She gasped when the Doctor dropped her and she fell on her back.

"Get out of here…now," he snarled.

Dorottya scrambled to her feet and stumbled away from his grasp.

"You haven't heard the last of me."

She glanced at Rose and sneered at her.

"And neither has your pretty young friend," she said.

With one last look of contempt, she turned and sprinted into the woods. The Doctor and Rose watched her go. When she was out of sight, the Doctor looked at Rose.

"See, village life isn't so boring if you know where to look," he said.

He gathered the girl into his arms and both of them headed back towards the inn.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The Countess glared at Dorottya while she stood in front of her mistress. The Countess was lying in her bed in her sleeping quarters and her servant was at the head of the bed.

"I believe I sent you to fetch me another girl. Yet, you returned empty handed. What's wrong? Couldn't you find any?" the Countess said.

Dorottya swallowed hard.

"I did find one, mistress. I was bringing her back to the castle, but I was foiled by a man and a woman."

The Countess sat up straighter.

"What man and woman? Who are they?"

"I don't know, mistress. I've never seen them before. They ran up to me and snatched the girl from my hands. When I tried to fight back, the man grabbed me by the neck and lifted me off the ground. For a moment, I thought he was going to kill me."

"What do they look like?"

"The man was tall, thin, and pale. Very pale, as if he's never seen the sun, and his hair was short and black as ebony. The woman was younger and shorter than him, with blonde hair."

"How old was this woman?" the Countess said with interest.

"Very young, couldn't be older than early twenties."

The Countess considered that.

"Do you think that this woman…"

"I'm not sure, mistress. I'm not sure if the woman is a virgin or not." Dorottya finished for her.

"But she's just reached a marriageable age, would you say?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps the man is her husband."

"Perhaps…"

The Countess stared off into space while Dorottya waited patiently.

"This man and woman interfered in our work," she said. "Virgin or not, this child should replace the woman that she stole from me. I'm sure that her youth alone will be enough to rejuvenate my skin. I want you to take the other ladies and scour the village and the countryside for them, when you find them, bring them both to me, alive. I want both of them to suffer before they die so they will know not to interfere in my business again."

"Yes, mistress."

Dorottya bowed and left the room. The Countess leaned her head back on her plush pillow, let out a contented sigh and fell back to sleep.

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The Doctor and Rose neared the outskirts of the village.

"OKAY, WE'RE LEAVING NOW! EVERYONE CAN RELAX!" the Doctor screamed at the village.

He grinned when Rose turned a bright shade of red.

"What? I don't want the authorities coming after us because they think we haven't left yet," the Doctor said. "I wanna let them know the evil gypsy scum has left their fair city."

Rose took his hand and pulled him along the dirt road that led away from the town.

"Come along, loudmouth, before we end up in the bleedin' stocks," she said.

"Rose, Rose, wait!"

Rose sighed when the Doctor jerked his hand out of her grasp. He ran back into the village and ran back to her. Then, with a goofy grin on his face, did it again and again and again."

"What are you doing?" Rose said.

"Pushing our luck?"

"Get over here, you loon."

The Doctor sniggered.

"Ah, come on, stand with me just inside the city limits and when they come to arrest us, we can run over here and taunt them because we're out of their village."

"Come along, Doctor."

"Then, we can run back in and stick our tongues out at the uptight gits and run back out again."

"Come along, Doctor."

"Then we can just jump back and forth over the city limits a million times and laugh at their confusion."

"Goodbye, Doctor."

The Doctor frowned when he noticed Rose walking away from him. Sighing, he stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Ooooooooooh, you're no fun anymore," he said, following her.

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Rose sighed. They had been walking down the dirt road for about twenty minutes now and she was contemplating muzzling the Doctor's mouth.

"63 BOTTLES OF BLOOD ON THE WALL, 63 BOTTLES OF BLOOD, TAKE ONE DOWN, PASS IT AROUND, 62 BOTTLES OF BLOOD ON THE WALL. 62 BOTTLES OF BLOOD ON THE WALL, 62 BOTTLES OF BLOOD, TAKE ONE DOWN, PASS IT…Rose, where are you going?" he said, when he noticed her running away.

"I'M GOING TO GO FIND A MENTAL INSTITUTION AND CHECK IN BECAUSE I'M GOING INSANE FROM YOUR SINGING!" she said.

She gasped when the Doctor grabbed her from behind, stopping her in her tracks.

"Oh no, you don't. I'm gonna make sure you can't run anywhere."

She gasped when the Doctor soared upward into the air.

"Doctor, what are you doing?"

"Enjoying the view with my best girl."

Rose looked around at him.

"Oh yeah, and this will really go over big with the superstitious Hungarians," she said to him. "Bad enough they thought of us as gypsies without them finding out you're a vampire too."

"Nah, I'm way too clever for them. The moment I spot someone, I'll just zoom up into the clouds, and if they do spot me…well, like I said, I do feel a bit peckish at the moment."

"Yeah, and that'll go over big too. Finding a completely drained corpse lying in the middle of the road. No, they'll never suspect it was the two weird strangers that passed through their village. Not in a million bleedin' years."

"Rose, dear, sarcasm just doesn't become you. Just letting you know that so you can correct the problem in future. Besides, if you're so worried about villagers, there's one simple solution to that problem."

"Flying back down to the ground?"

"Nope, other way!"

Rose gasped when he soared up higher into the air. She gripped his arms and held on for dear life while the Doctor whistled cheerfully in her ear. They went up several thousand feet and then stopped.

"There ya go. A bird's eye view of the countryside," the Doctor said, "and look, there's the castle about a mile or so away. Blimey, I should have thought of this in the first place."

"Doctor," Rose said, stiff as a board. "Please don't drop me."

The Doctor frowned when he noticed her trembling. Deftly, he spun her around in his arms and held her close to his body.

"Better?"

"Much," Rose said, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Sorry, I was so excited about flying that I forgot to make sure you were secure before I took off."

"S'alright, just as long as you don't drop me."

"You mean like this?"

Rose screamed when he opened his arms. He quickly grabbed her body and giggled when Rose shot him a dirty look.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," he said.

Rose rolled her eyes. She tightened her arms around his neck while he flew up into the clouds. She stared down at the ground below while the Doctor made a beeline towards the castle.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Katalin sat inside the carriage as it bounced down the dirt road towards the village. The other three women sat around her, talking amongst themselves. She envied them. They had absolutely no qualms about going out, kidnapping young girls and bringing them back to the castle to be tortured and murdered. She, on the other hand, thought it repulsive and wanted nothing to do with it, but she held no illusions about what might happen to her should she resist. She had seen the Countess's cruelty and she knew that if she did the wrong thing, she could very well end up being next. She was the youngest of the four and the other three women never let her forget that. She was constantly bullied, beaten, and made to take part in the killings. Out of all of them, Dorottya, the oldest was the cruelest one. The woman seemed to have no soul and no conscience. Katalin didn't miss the gleeful look on her face whenever a woman was slaughtered. She seemed to take a perverse joy in the suffering of others. Katalin always made sure to stay as far away from her whenever she could. Unfortunately, that didn't always work. Like right now. She didn't really know what had occurred. All she knew was someone had prevented Dorottya from seizing another victim and they were going to find the people responsible. Secretly, Katalin hoped that this person or persons would be able to stop their mission and perhaps rescue her as they did the young woman.

She sighed and turned her attention to the window beside her. She quietly watched the scenery, trying not to listen to the other three women who were coming up with sick little ideas for what they would do to the man and the woman.

Suddenly, she saw something streaking out of the clouds back towards the castle. Whatever the object was, it was large, too large to be a bird. But it went by so fast that Katalin doubted whether she had seen it at all. She craned her neck out the window looking back at where the object had been, but she couldn't see anything. Mentally shrugging, she stuck her head back inside and concentrated on staring at the trees.

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"Blimey," Rose gasped when the Doctor stopped a few inches from the ground. "I'll never get used to you going that fast. I think my heart is still up in the clouds."

"Nah, your heart is right here, safe and sound," the Doctor said, pointing to his chest. "Besides, you were the one who were worried that someone might see us. This way, we can avoid being spotted."

He touched the ground and let go of her.

"And," he said, gesturing up at the castle wall beside him, "I got you here in record time. That means more time to explore. Come on!"

Rose started to walk off, but the Doctor grabbed her arm.

""Wait a tic, where are you going?" he said.

Rose gave him a confused look.

"I'm going to find the front entrance, so we can go inside."

"Oh, sod the entrance. I can get us in all by my little lonesome. Watch."

He flew straight up until he reached an open window several feet above the ground. Grinning, he flew over, peeked in, and then flew inside.

"Doctor?" Rose called up.

The Doctor appeared at the window and looked down at her.

"Welcome to my castle, little one," he said, imitating Bela Lugosi. "Soon, you will be my willing love slave for eternity, bwahahahahahahaha!"

Rose rolled her eyes.

"Oh, please, get over yourself, will ya?" she said.

The Doctor snickered. He floated down, grabbed Rose, and flew back up with her. They glided through the window and he sat her down beside him.

"There ya go, in the castle. And look, we didn't have to pay any admission fees if they have them, nor do we have to go on the guided tour. We can take all the time we need and look at anything we want."

"What about the guards? I assume they still have someone guarding the castle," Rose said.

The Doctor grinned. He opened his mouth and pointed to his fangs.

"I believe these little darlings will come in quite handy for that sort of thing," he said.

"You are just gonna find any excuse you can to take someone's blood, aren't ya?"

"Sure. Because synthetic blood tastes disgusting. It may take care of my physical needs, but there is nothing like the taste of fresh blood. Ah, I can just smell the pleasant aroma now…"

He inhaled deeply. Rose frowned when he suddenly got a disgusted look on his face.

"What? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? The castle reeks of stale blood, that's what's wrong. Phew! I'm so glad I can't breathe it in. God! I mean, can't you smell it, Rose?"

Rose sniffed the air.

"It smells like a musty old castle to me," she said. "Besides I thought you loved the smell of blood."

"Fresh blood, Rose. I don't like smelling blood that's a hundred years old. The smell of it makes me want to puke."

"Then, don't smell it."

"Trust me, I'm not going to. Eeeeugh! You think these people would disinfect these castles before they open them to the general public. Some of us have sensitive noses, you know."

"Well, I'm sure when they opened the castle to the public; they weren't planning on having real vampires visit it."

"Why not? According to you, this is supposedly vampire central. Wouldn't you think they would take that into account when they fixed this place up. After all, vampires are people too. Dead people, but still people nonetheless."

Rose rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you just pinch your nose and let's get on with the tour before someone realizes we're in here, alright?"

The Doctor shrugged. He took Rose's hand and the two of them walked down the corridor. They stopped by an open door and walked into a large room. Huge portraits lined both sides of the walls. They walked to one side of the room and stared at a large painting of a young dark-haired woman with cream colored skin. The Doctor let out a low whistle.

"Blimey, look how pale these people are, and I thought I was undead," he said. "I'm telling ya, Rose. It's a very bad sign when the painter feels the need to put in your jugular vein. Means you need to get out of the huge, dark gothic palace a bit more often."

"Maybe this woman was a vampire."

The Doctor snorted.

"Rose, dear, this woman makes vampires look tanned. I think she went far beyond vampirism and became Casper the Friendly Ghost instead. Even a vampire would tell her she was too pale."

He raised his hand up and put it beside hers.

"I mean, look, am I that pale? I'm darker than she is, aren't I?"

"Yes, Doctor, you have very dark skin compared to her."

"Thought so."

Rose shook her head, reached up, grabbed the hand, and led him to the next portrait. It was a young girl whose skin was just as pale as the other woman's, prompting the Doctor to make more comments about her need to get out in the sun.

"Doctor, I don't think that'll do any good since I have a feeling these people are dead now."

"Then again, Rose, you could be right about them being vampires. Too bad the pictures don't have name plaques on them. Otherwise, I would make inquiries."

"To who? All the other vampires hate you now. You did barbecue most of them, you know."

"Oh yeah, drat, never mind then. Although, I could make inquires now. None of the vampires would know me at this time."

"No, you are not walking into a big group of vampires with me at your side. I don't wanna be an appetizer while you talk to them."

"Oh, ye of little faith. You know I'd never let anyone take your blood. That honor is reserved solely for little ol' moi."

Rose snorted.

"Guess again, Lestat," she said.

"Ah, come on, you almost let me take your blood that night we were in my office."

"Yes, and that was a momentary lapse of reason on my part, not to mention you weren't in your right mind and I was scared if I did anything, you would tear me limb from limb."

"Really? I was that terrifying? Wow, no wonder I become king vampire then. But, then again, this physique is incredibly intimidating, so I can see…"

"Anyway, moving on…" Rose said, pulling his hand.

Not wanting to hear any more comments on how pale the people were, Rose led him out of the portrait room and down another corridor. They got halfway down it when Rose suddenly stopped and made a face.

"Oh God, it reeks."

"What does?"

Rose clamped her nose shut and pointed to a door beside them.

"Here, in here, it smells disgusting. Can't you smell…"

She paused, as she looked at the Doctor.

"Oh that's right, you can't smell anything unless you do it manually," she muttered. "Well, that whole thing about the stale blood making you sick, I think that's what I'm smelling now because I'm about to puke from the stench."

She gasped when the Doctor hurried around her and grabbed the door handle. The smell intensified and Rose fought to keep her bile down. She looked over when the Doctor started to enter the room.

"Oi, I thought you didn't like smelling stale blood," she said.

"I don't. But I'm curious about why there's such a strong scent of blood in this room. I'm odd that way."

He opened the door and both of them reeled back in shock. There was a dead woman hanging from manacles in the middle of the room. Her throat had been slit open and tracks of dried blood ran down her naked body. Rose glanced up at the Doctor who was staring at the girl with barely contained rage. Without a word, he walked over to her and stared at her in silence. Rose came up behind him and looked around the room. She noticed the bathtub in the corner of the room and walked over to it. Her stomach turned when she saw the inside was coated with dried blood. She looked down and noticed a wooden bucket sitting beside it, its interior also stained red with blood. Rose debated whether she should use the bucket to hold her vomit.

"Oh, God."

Rose turned and noticed that the Doctor had somehow managed to turn even paler than usual.

"They…they dumped the blood in here," Rose said, unnecessarily. "Why would they do that?"

"I know why."

Rose looked at him.

"I know why the name Csejte Castle seemed so familiar," he added.

"Yeah? Why?"

"Elizabeth Bathory."

Rose frowned. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had heard it.

"Who's she?" she asked.

The Doctor sighed.

"She was known as the Blood Countess. She was a daft woman who was extremely vain and was worried that she was losing her beauty, kinda like Cassandra. But whereas Cassandra plastic-surgeried herself into a placemat, this woman decided the secret to eternal youth lay in the power of blood, particularly the blood of young, virgin women."

Rose now remembered who this woman was. Her stomach sank into her knees while she stared at the tub.

"And she bathed in the blood, yeah?"

"Yup," the Doctor said, popping the p. "She bathed in it and drank it. All because she was terrified of a few wrinkles. Because of that, hundreds of innocent women and girls were imprisoned, tortured, and killed."

"Is she a vampire?"

The Doctor thought.

"I don't think so. Although some people believed her to be, just like they thought Vlad the Impaler was one. No, I just think the woman was a sadistic, old nutter. Having said that, I believe we should cut our castle tour short and go back to the TARDIS. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like a wonderful idea to me."

"Great. Then let's get going before batty Bathory's guards find…"

They turned and the Doctor trailed off when he saw two guards standing in the doorway glaring at them.

"Oh, hello. I'm sorry, is this room off limits on the tour? Our bad. You guys really need to put a velvet rope across the door so clueless yokels like us would know not to come in here. Fascinating room, by the way. Interesting décor. I especially love the dead woman hanging in the center of it. Must be a great conversation piece. You need to write Martha Stewart and tell her about it."

He slapped his hands together.

"Well, we won't trouble you any longer. I'm sure you two have other rooms to check and other young girls to torture and kill, so we'll be on our way."

They started towards the door. The guards drew their swords and waved them menacingly. The Doctor raised his eyebrows.

"I'm warning you here and now. It would be in your best interest to let my friend and I walk out of here, unmolested."

He sighed when the guards advanced on them.

"Is everyone around me stone deaf or is the TARDIS not translating my words correctly? I hate it when I try to give people fair warning and they just ignore me."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh well, if you insist on attacking; far be it from me to deny you a fight."

Without warning, he lunged at them and hit one of the guards in the face. The other guard gasped when the force of the blow made the man fly back out the door and smack into the wall. The man dropped to the floor, unconscious. The remaining guard looked at the Doctor who was giving him a smug grin.

"See, I'm not as puny as you think I am."

"GUARDS! COME QUICKLY! INTRUDER!"

"Yup, and we both came intruder window, didn't we, Rose?"

Rose groaned.

"Word of advice, Doctor. Never use that pun ever, ever again," she muttered.

She gasped when the guard lunged at the Doctor. He yelled when the Doctor threw him away from his body.

"I repeat, you better leave us alone before you end up like your buddy over there."

He sighed when the guard leapt to his feet and charged him.

"Or…maybe you do want to be unconscious."

With lightning quick speed, he grabbed the bucket, slammed it down on the guard's head, grabbed him from behind, and rammed him headfirst into the wall. The bucket shattered on impact and the guard slumped to the ground. The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand.

"Okay, let's go before their buddies show up," he said.

They ran out the door and Rose gasped when a guard rammed him from the side. The Doctor slammed down onto his stomach and the impact caused the box with the protective force field to fly out of his pocket. Rose screamed when the Doctor, whose head and right hand were in the sunlight, began to smoke. She ran to the guard and kicked his head. The Doctor threw him directly into the wall and quickly flung himself into the shadows while Rose retrieved the box. Grabbing it, she ran back to the Doctor who was moaning softly while he held his injured hand. She shoved the box deep into his trouser pocket and the Doctor grabbed her, picked her up, and ran to the window. He quickly jumped out and flew into the trees just as a group of guards and the Countess rounded the corner. The Countess looked around and then ran to the dazed guard.

"Where are they? Where are the intruders?"

The guard groaned.

"They went out the window," he said.

The Countess looked at the other guards.

"Find them and bring them back to me. I want them both alive even if you have to drag them kicking and screaming every step of the way. Now go!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Rose stared at her lover in anguished silence. His right cheek and most of his right hand had been charred and the Doctor was gritting his teeth in agony at the pain.

"Doctor," she whispered.

He shook his head prompting her to be quiet. He sat in the treetops holding her tightly to him while he watched their pursuers searching for them far below. She glanced down at the burnt hand holding her tightly against her body and she grimaced at it, thanking God she had retrieved the force field and given it to him before he became a pile of ashes. They sat there waiting and watching while the guards combed the forest looking for them. Luckily they didn't think to look up and the branches and leaves of the tree hid them from view. While they waited for them to stop the Doctor managed to get his pain under control and listened while the lead guard barked orders at the others to find them at any cost.

"Nice to know we're so popular now," the Doctor muttered to Rose.

"Oh Doctor, how are you gonna repair your skin?"

Blood, I need fresh blood to stimulate my cells and get them to repair the damage," he whispered. "Unfortunately, the artificial stuff isn't gonna work. I need real blood."

"Take mine then."

He looked at her and shook his head.

"Rose, no. I was just kidding about taking your blood. I could never do that to you."

"I want to do it. I want you to be healed. Please take what you need."

The Doctor's eyes shown with love and he held her close while they waited for an opportunity to leave.

It came about fifteen minutes later when the guards finally moved to a different part of the forest. The Doctor shifted Rose so she was against him. She put her arms around his neck while she held him tightly. He slowly flew up against the tree and when he was past all the branches and limbs, he quickly zoomed up into the clouds before they were spotted. He flew high up in the air, his sharp eyes picking out the guards moving through the forest. He spotted his TARDIS on the other side of the village and headed towards it while Rose held on tightly. When he was over it, he glanced back and held Rose as tight as he could while he zoomed down towards it at top speed. He stopped himself just before he hit the ground and gently floated down beside it. Once they were on the ground he unlocked the door and ushered Rose inside before he shut and locked it again.

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Alright, Rose," the Doctor said as they sat together on the jump seat. "I'm gonna take the blood from your wrist and take just enough to heal me. So just relax. I won't go overboard and kill you and you won't become a vampire."

"Just do what you have to in order to heal your skin," she replied.

He kissed her lips and stroked her cheek briefly before he took her right wrist and studied it for a moment determining the ideal spot to bite her. Then he brought it up to his lips.

"This will hurt for just a second, but then it'll numb and you won't feel anything."

Rose nodded. She braced herself when the Doctor opened his mouth and his canines elongated. He kissed the area he was going to bite and murmured an apology before he positioned his fangs over the vein. Then with a silent count of three he bit down. Rose winced for a second and then her face became passive as the Doctor withdrew his fangs and began to feed on her precious blood. Rose scooted nearer to him and stroked the back of his jet black hair while he drank her life-force. He drank for about three minutes and then stopped.

"That's it. That'll be enough," he said.

He gave her a grateful smile.

"Thank you, my Rose."

"You're welcome," she whispered.

He licked the blood off his lips and helped her to stand. He led her back to med bay where he put antiseptic on the wounds, put gauze over them and wrapped the wrist in a bandage tying the ends of it together. He then walked over to a bed and lay down.

"I have to rest for a moment so the blood can work," he explained.

Rose knelt down beside the bed and the Doctor stroked her cheek.

"Thank you for that," he said. "You didn't have to do that for me."

"I know but I wanted to. You're hurt and if my blood can heal you than I'll give it to you willingly."

He smiled tenderly at her.

"You taste good, you know that? You taste every bit as sweet as I thought you would."

"Well, nice to know my blood isn't foul tastin'"

"We'll have to go back. We have to stop her before she slaughters any more innocent women."

She nodded.

"Elizabeth Bathory's reign of terror has lasted long enough. I won't let another girl end up like that poor thing in her bathroom," he added. "She needs to be brought to justice now and we're gonna be the ones who do it."

He glanced at his hand and showed Rose. She breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed the burnt area had shrunk considerably. She turned his face so she could see his right cheek and noticed that wound was shrinking too. She ran her fingers though his tousle while he smiled at her.

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Andor, the head guard, flinched when his mistress picked up a vase and threw it across her bedroom where it shattered into several large pieces against the stone wall.

"I will not accept excuses!" she yelled at him. "You and your men were ordered to find the intruders and I will not hear you telling me that you can't find them! I have a feeling these are the two who prevented the capture of the young girl earlier and I want them both alive and kneeling at my feet, especially the young woman! Now why can't you find them? Out with it!"

"Forgive me, Mistress, but we have searched almost the entire forest. We have fanned out and looked around every tree and looked up the shorter ones that they could have climbed. There is no sign of them. It's like they vanished into thin…"

He grunted when the Countess smacked him hard across the face. She ran over, grabbed the largest shard of the vase, ran back and held the jagged end to his throat.

"I will not accept excuses, do you hear! Especially weak ones like that! I want them found. I want you to search the village, the mountains, the countryside and every single acre of Hungarian earth and if you can't find them here, search beyond the borders and don't stop until you have them because if I see you back in here telling me they must have vanished into thin air, I will have your head for a trophy! Do you understand me?"

"Y…yes, Mistress."

"The girl is mine now. I claim her for my own and I'm not about to let her get away, not after she cost me the life of the other one. The male will be brought before me, tied down and whipped. Then he will watch while I drain the girl, sup on her blood and bathe in it. Then he will be tied hand, foot and head to my finest horses and torn apart. That is why they must be found at any cost, is that understood?"

"Yes, my Mistress."

She stood up and dropped the shard.

"Good, then go and carry out my orders before they are able to escape."

"At once, my Mistress."

She watched while he got up and hurried out of the room. She gnashed her teeth and kicked the shard across the room before she got back into bed and tried to relax.

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Dorottya was getting frustrated. She, Ilona, Katalin and Zsuzsanna were looking for the man and the woman in the village. They had question several of the ignorant peasants and some told of two strange gypsies that matched their descriptions but all they could tell them was they were ordered out of the village before they were imprisoned. No one had seen them since.

"Come on," Dorottya said after they questioned the tenth person. "These idiots know nothing. We need to keep looking before they get away."

Ilona shoved Katalin when she hesitated.

"And that means you, little toad," she snarled at her. "You're in this just as deeply as we are and if you resist any more we are going to tell the Countess and you know what that means."

Katalin swallowed hard and nodded. She followed the others while they headed out of the village.

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"Ah, much better," the Doctor said, sitting up.

He showed his hand to Rose and she rejoiced. There was not a single burn mark on his hand or his cheek. If she didn't know better she could have sworn nothing happened to him. He smiled and leaned over to give her a kiss.

"My Angel came through for me again," he said. "I'm so grateful to you for doing this."

"It's my pleasure. I'm just glad you're healed," she said.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he stood and helped Rose to her feet.

"Now, my faithful mortal companion and supplier of blood whenever I request it, let's go see about sorting out the Blood Countess once and for all, eh?'


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The Doctor was about to lead Rose back out of the TARDIS when he had a sudden thought. They were being hunted now which meant that he couldn't show off and fly around, nor could he go out looking like his usual pale skinned, dark haired self. They needed disguises so he and Rose walked up to the wardrobe room.

"I need clothes and makeup. I need to hide my pale skin," the Doctor said to her as they climbed the steps up to the wardrobe room. "We better disguise ourselves as best we can because Batty Betty will show us no mercy if she catches us."

"But I'm not in any danger. I mean, she wants virgin blood, yeah? I'm not a virgin."

"She did more than that, Rose," the Doctor said, turning to her. "She did more than just drain women's blood."

"What else did she do?" Rose said, dreading the answer.

"Among other things, she tortured women, had them executed while she watched and did fun creative things like making women stand in the courtyard in sub zero temperatures while servants threw bucket after bucket of cold water on them until they literally became ice statues. You and I prevented her from taking a young lady this afternoon and I'm sure she'll eventually suss out that we were responsible which means, virgin or not, you're a target. Hence the disguises."

They took their time, selecting something that would allow them to fit in. The Doctor decided this time to go with native dress, selecting to look like a peasant along with Rose. Both of them chose wigs to hide their real hair and the TARDIS supplied her master with flesh colored rubber prosthetics that would mold to his face like a mask and give the appearance of being alive. In addition to that, the TARDIS also supplied him with realistic looking gloves that mimicked real skin. While the Doctor helped her, Rose used spirit gum and applied each part of the makeup to the Doctor's real skin. She had to admit that it looked convincing and he looked like his normal self again after a couple of hours. She finished up by applying cosmetics to hide the thin lines where the parts rested against each other and to make his face look more realistic. The Doctor finished up by putting on a sandy blonde colored wig that gave him long hair that draped down to his shoulders on both sides. Rose had a black wig that came down to the middle of her back and she tied a red babushka over it to hold it in place. When they were done, both of them looked in the mirror. The Doctor had on tan trousers with leather boots and a red shirt. Rose was wearing a red dress that matched her babushka and black boots that bothered her feet at first since she was used to wearing trainers.

"Now if anyone asks, you are called Roza which is the Hungarian form of Rose. I will be Bela."

Rose nodded and smirked.

"Bela Lugosi, yeah?"

"If you like. I just like the name Bela, it's a good solid Hungarian name that won't raise suspicions. Now, I believe we're ready so follow me, Roza."

"After you, Bela," Rose said.

The Doctor took her hand and they headed towards the steps.

Katalin wandered the courtyard of Castle Csejte, lost in her thoughts. It had been so long since she came here, a young naïve girl sent by her family because they were starving and wanted both a better life for her and one less mouth to feed. At the time no one suspected Elisabeta of any wrongdoing or insanity, she was viewed as just a harmless old eccentric living in a large drafty castle on the outskirts of the town. But Katalin quickly learned just how deranged her mistress really was when she was forced to participate in the murder of her first young virgin, a girl not much older than herself who had her throat slit callously by Dorottya, a woman who turned out to be just as bloodthirsty and insane as the Countess. Dorottya was a few years older and had been at the castle for a few years when she first arrived. Katalin was left in her care so Dorottya could show her the ropes but instead the older woman abused and beat her, forcing her to take part in the murders and mocking her whenever she would vomit afterwards. She had been ten then and now she was twenty. The past ten years had been a hellish nightmare for her and she was eager to see it end and eager to see the Countess face justice. The only problem was she was followed nearly everywhere she went, kept a close eye on because it was well known that she did not approve of the Countess and her activities and also ten years of beatings had made her timid, afraid that she would end up alongside the many women whose throats she had helped to slit. She often prayed that someone in the town would grow a spine and take action but most people were unaware of the true horrors that went on. Besides, Elisabeta was nobility which meant that any peasant who tried to speak out against her would most likely not only be ignored but killed as well. There had been a few brave souls who had tried to stop her but either they or their young daughters mysteriously vanished and that was enough to silence the rest of the village.

She stopped at one spot and felt revulsion. Last winter, her mistress had ordered the execution of servants she deemed slothful or old and they were forced out here in the freezing cold and Katalin and the other girls who had escaped the death sentence threw buckets of cold water on them while they cried and begged for mercy. Any who tried to move were either forced back into position by the guards or ran through with their spears. In all, forty girls died that night, five by spears and thirty five frozen in place, left in the courtyard all winter as ice sculptures before they were finally burned in the spring. They were left there as both a work of art and a reminder to the other servants that they needed to pull their weight or else. Katalin's mind burned with hatred for the woman and it also burned with hatred for herself knowing that she had been a coward and taken part in all these murders because she didn't have the guts to stand up to Elisabeta and her demonic retinue.

But despite all this, she knew that one day someone would stop her and the reign of terror would finally end. It was only a matter of time and Katalin hoped she would be alive to witness it when it did come.

Rose was relieved when they walked into the town and no one accosted them. Now that they weren't dressed in freakish clothes, the villagers did little more than glance at them before they went on about their lives. She always wondered why they didn't do this more often. She often felt that dressing in anachronistic clothes only added to the trouble they often faced since it drew attention to themselves and pegged them as outsiders. But then Rose thought maybe that's what the Doctor wanted. The more they were labeled as outsiders, the more likely something would happen and that's what the Doctor wanted, something to happen. Then again, Rose figured the Doctor didn't care what people thought of him and he never let people's opinions stop him from being who he was and that was one of the things Rose loved dearly about him.

But for the moment, it was good to go unnoticed, especially since the villagers seemed ready to burn them at the stake before. The Doctor, noticeably, was not his usual cheerful, talkative self. Usually, he would be willing to strike up a conversation with complete strangers but even he must have sensed the need to keep a low profile since he was quiet and somber. The disguise made him look like his old self, save for the blonde hair, but Rose found it odd that she actually missed his vampire look. She was so used to him being pale with jet black hair that she wished he would tear off the rubber prosthetics and go back to his old self.

She also thought about what had just occurred between them, the sharing of blood. She was sure it was going to be an unpleasant experience but to her surprise, she found she actually liked it. The feeling of the Doctor's lips on her wrist and the gentle sucking motion soothed her. She suddenly realized what the attraction was for all those Goths who dreamed about becoming the undead. It struck her for the first time that this was another case of her growing old while the Doctor remained young, except this time he was unlikely even to regenerate but keep the same body throughout the ages until something happened that caused his death. She was filled with sadness that she still wouldn't be able to be with him past a normal human life span and she found herself seriously considering joining him as a vampire. She didn't know if the Doctor would allow that but she had a feeling he would be against it since he seemed so reluctant to take her blood to heal his body.

As they walked through the town, the Doctor's eyes scanned his surroundings, searching for something. When Rose finally asked him what he was looking for, the Doctor's eyes settled on her and she saw that familiar twinkle in them.

"Trouble," he said, half kidding.

"That figures," Rose said.

"No, actually, I'm seeking out someone trustworthy to talk to about the Countess. I want information on how long she's been doing this. I have a general idea from knowing the date but no one was ever sure of just what all went on in that place. I want to know if the locals know anything and they're just reluctant to talk."

"Wouldn't you be if you might end up being someone's bath water," Rose said.

"True. But eventually the Countess was caught and brought to justice. There are always people who are brave enough to fight evil; you just have to know where to look for them and how to give them the courage to fight. It's time for Bathory to face the music and for her slaughter to end but we need someone to assist us that knows what's been going on here and…"

"You stupid girl!"

The Doctor and Rose turned around when they heard a man yelling and they saw the girl they rescued earlier running from an older man who was trying to hit her.

"Papa, I was telling the truth, they almost took me away to the haunted castle!" the girl was protesting as she tried to get away from her angry father.

"Bah, no one would want you, not even the Countess. You're ugly, lazy and you've been a burden on me and your mother since the day you were born. I sent you to market and you come back empty-handed. You most likely were off daydreaming again and needed an excuse for why you didn't do as I command. Now get going and if you come back empty handed again, I'll beat you to within an inch of your life!"

Rose started to go to the girl so she could defend her but the Doctor stopped her.

"No wait, he's leaving," he said, pointing to the man who was now turning and stomping away.

They watched as the girl, tears in her eyes, ran past them. The Doctor nudged Rose.

"I don't know about you, but I think we found the perfect candidate to help us bring down Batty Betty," he said. "Come on, let's go have a chat with her and see if she knows anything."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Frida Varga grumbled to herself as she made her way back to the market, wooden basket swinging on her crooked arm. Sometimes she hated being a girl, especially a girl of eleven. She was at that age when boys began noticing her but adults still didn't take her seriously or believe what she had to say. Her father was of the opinion that girls were nothing but airheaded nuisances, worth less than boys except when they were married off to noble or rich families. She was different from a lot of the women in the village. She was in no hurry to get married but it wasn't for her to decide. Men controlled her fate and it would be so until the day she died.

While she walked, she kept noticing a man and woman behind her. When she turned, they would turn and when she stopped they would stop and adopt a casual air but she knew they were focused on her. She finally stopped, let out an angry sigh and turned to face them.

"If you try to kidnap me again, I will scream!" she said, putting her hands on her hips.

"We're not trying to kidnap you, we'd like to speak with you about the earlier kidnapping though," the man said as he and the woman walked up to her.

Frida gave them a wary look. She'd never seen them before.

"Are you gypsies?" she asked them.

"No. We're travelers," the woman said. "We arrived today and we saw that woman try to take you.

Frida took a long, hard look at her face and realized she was the woman that saved her. She told her that and she nodded.

"Yes, I'm Rose and this is the Doctor, he saved you as well."

Frida looked at him. She recognized his face as well but not their hair. When Frida pointed that out, the Doctor nodded.

"We're in disguise in case that woman returns for revenge," the Doctor said. "What is your name?"

"Frida, sir. But I must get going. My father yelled at me for coming back home without going to market and he'll beat me if I don't go."

The Doctor's eyes darkened at that but he smiled warmly and asked if they could accompany her. Frida shrugged. The man and woman seemed friendly and they saved her earlier. She decided to risk it. She led the way and the man and woman walked on either side of her.

"What happened to you earlier, has that happened before?" the Doctor said as they walked. "Have people gone missing?"

"I'm not supposed to talk about it," Frida said.

"Oh? Why not?" the Doctor said.

"Because the countess may have spies listening to us."

"So you think she's behind your attempted abduction?"

Frida looked around, suddenly fearful. The Doctor put his hand on her shoulder.

"I give you my word I will protect you. We want to get to the bottom of the kidnappings and stop them and we need some information."

"Are you police?" Frida said.

"After a fashion," the Doctor said. "We stop wrongdoing."

Frida looked at Rose with a confused look on her face.

"You are also police?" she said to Rose.

"She assists me. We try to right injustice wherever we find it," the Doctor said.

They entered the marketplace. There were wooden tables lined up on either side of the cobblestone street. Men and women stood behind them selling their goods and calling out to passerby, trying to attract a sale. The Doctor followed Frida to a table that had fruits on it. Frida chose a few apples and the Doctor watched while she put the basket on the table, took a tiny pie out of it and bartered it for the apples. She went from table to table, bartering the little pies for food while Rose watched with interest. Meanwhile, the Doctor was scanning the area, using his enhanced senses to detect anything. His nose scented blood and he felt his stomach growl but he could tell it was animal blood from a butcher's table up the way and not human blood. He didn't see the female abductor or any of the soldiers from the castle but he knew they were probably still searching for them. So far he hadn't asked Frida anything, figuring she would be a bit skittish about saying anything where there were so many people. But he wanted to make sure she got her chore done before they questioned her so she wouldn't be beaten further.

Frida walked away from the table and the Doctor and Rose followed her. The Doctor kept glancing around and he jerked his head around when he heard Rose laugh. He looked at the table beside him and saw an assortment of wooden stakes, crucifix necklaces, garlic and books about vampires. Rose glanced at him and giggled when she saw him roll his eyes.

"What's so funny? Nosferatu are real," Frida said to Rose.

"The child is correct," a thin, gangly man behind the table said. "These will protect you from them and I have books on hunting them and nosferatu lore."

"How do you tell if someone is nosferatu?" Rose said, playing along while the Doctor listened.

"You don't know?" the man said, shocked.

"I was raised in a remote village and no one believed in such silly nonsense," Rose said airily, wanting to see his reaction to that.

The Doctor stifled a laugh when the man almost had apoplexy at her statement.

"They are not nonsense, miss," he said indignantly. "The nosferatu live and they feed on the blood of the unwary. And in answer to your question, they have deathlike skin and the look of a corpse. They can change into animals or mist and they can hypnotize and seduce their prey. It's all in these books," he said, eagerly pointing to them. "Perhaps you might buy one and educate yourself?"

Rose grinned when she glanced at the Doctor. She picked up one called The Truth About Nosferatu, a large book bound in red leather. She looked down but she didn't know what to barter for it. The Doctor rolled his eyes and reached into his trouser pocket, which like his regular trousers were bigger on the inside. He had transferred most of the contents of his trousers into this one and he had put a wooden yoyo in it in case he needed to pass the time. He took it out and demonstrated it, doing a few tricks while the man and Frida gaped in astonishment.

"A fair trade, this for the book?" the Doctor said, pointing to the yoyo.

"Done," the man said.

He took it from him and thanked him. The Doctor returned the thanks and they walked on.

"You owe me a yoyo,Tyler," the Doctor muttered in Rose's ear.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

When Frida finished her shopping, the Doctor and Rose guided her to the side of a house and made sure no one was listening before asking her about the kidnappings.

"There have been several, sir," Frida said softly.

"For how long?" the Doctor said softly.

"Several years, sir."

"Just call me the Doctor. No need for "Sir"," he said, holding up his hand. "And all of these kidnappings have been young women?"

Frida nodded.

"Your age?" Rose asked.

"Around my age, miss," Frida said.

"Has anything ever found any of the women?" Rose asked.

"No. But there is a rumor…"

She fell silent and looked around. The Doctor reassured her that she was safe and she nodded and continued what she was going to say.

"There is a rumor that the countess has servants who take them to the castle," she said to them.

"Do you know what she does with them?" the Doctor said, already knowing the answer.

"I have no idea. Perhaps they are forced to be servants?" Frida said. "We do not know what becomes of them."

"Has anyone ever tried to talk to the countess?" Rose asked.

"No. She is a countess and there is no one brave enough to speak to her," Frida said. "When her carriage comes into town, everyone must step back and bow in her presence. Only nobility may speak to her."

"Good because I'm a lord," the Doctor said.

"I thought you were a doctor," Frida said, confused.

"I'm both," the Doctor said while Rose held back her laughter.

"You want to arrest her?" Frida said in a barely audible voice after looking around again.

The Doctor nodded.

"I think she's behind all this," he said, matching the softness of her voice. "I think she's a very cruel lady and she needs to be stopped."

Frida nodded emphatically.

"What have you heard about her?" the Doctor said softly.

"That she tortures people and feeds them to her dogs," Frida said softly. "That she kills people who displease her. Some say…" she looked around again, "that she is nosferatu."

"I see," the Doctor said softly. "Do you think that?"

"I don't know. I've never seen her but people say she looks younger than her years. Perhaps it is so?"

"Perhaps," the Doctor said, nodding. "Well, we won't keep you any longer. We don't want you to get in trouble with your father."

"Are you going to be here in the village?" Frida asked.

"For a bit. We wanted to find an inn. Why?"

"Meet me here in two hours. I want to help you," Frida said. "My father doesn't believe that I was almost kidnapped. He thinks I'm a silly girl who makes things up. But you believe me and I want to help you find that woman so she can be arrested and the kidnappings can stop."

The Doctor nodded. He put his hand on her shoulder and told her to hurry home and they'd see in two hours. She nodded and the Doctor and Rose watched while she ran off in the direction of her house.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

After bartering for some bread with a small wooden ruler he had in his pocket, the Doctor and Rose found a bench in the village square and sat down. The Doctor gave the bread to Rose and rested on the wooden bench, his eyes continuing to scan for the woman or any signs of trouble. Rose munched on the freshly baked bread while she perused her book. She kept on giggling as she turned the pages and read passages and the Doctor eyed her when she read a passage and took his right hand, pretending to study it intently.

"What is it?" he said.

"Says vampires have hair growing on their palms, it's one of the signs!" she said ominously with wide eyes

"They also thought anyone with red hair was a vampire," the Doctor countered.

"Oh, is that why you want to be ginger then?" Rose said.

She laughed when the Doctor poked her side and shook his head.

"I don't see any mention of nice vampires in here," Rose said, turning the page.

She snickered when the Doctor gave her a withering look.

"You have the wrong book, Rose. You didn't see Vampires Are Our Best Friends right under this one?" he said, tapping the page.

"Well, you're a nice bloke…ish…vampire…person…thing."

She laughed when the Doctor gave her an odd look.

"And you're a nice woman…ish…ape…human," he said while Rose laughed harder.

She sobered up and took another bite of her bread while she went back to looking at her book. The Doctor resumed his scan of the village but his attention was diverted by a black beetle crawling on the ground in front of him. He watched while it stopped in front of him and then looked at Rose who was chewing her bread and reading something in the book. With an impish grin, he snatched it up and put it in his mouth. Rose gave him a disgusted look while he spit it out and put it back on the ground.

"The blood is the life," the Doctor said with wide eyes. "I need lives, lives!"

"You need a brain transplant more like," Rose said, shaking her head before turning her attention back to her book.

"It's sad how you're just used to my vampireness now," the Doctor said, settling back against the bench.

"You won't hurt me," Rose said without looking up from the book, "you're not under Ian's control anymore."

"Yes but I can be a right bastard when I wanna be," the Doctor said.

Rose bit her lip, holding in her laughter while the Doctor stared at her and waited for a response to that. He opened his mouth and hissed at her before closing it. Rose fanned the air around her nose while muttering, "Phew, manky smell," to herself.

"Soon I will make you one of my hellish legions of the undead, I swear it," the Doctor said airily while he resumed scanning the crowd.

Rose paused when he said that, her mind on that and the question she wanted to ask him about making her immortal. The Doctor sensed she wasn't reading anymore and he turned his eyes to her.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Doctor," Rose said, deciding to address the elephant in the room, "if you don't find a cure for your vampirism, can…I join you?"

The Doctor was shocked by that.

"You protested when I tried to convert you in my office," he said.

"Yes but you weren't you then," Rose said. "You were being controlled and you were evil. Things have changed."

"Rose, this isn't the ideal life for anyone," the Doctor said. "It's not like it is in novels where the vampire and his lifestyle are romanticized. There is a reason why I want to find a cure. You're an adult and I can't stop you from becoming a vampire but you better think long and hard on it before committing."

"I know and I have but I just mean if there's no hope of finding a cure, I want to be with you so you won't be lonely."

The Doctor said nothing as he studied her face. Rose looked down at her wrist.

"When I gave you blood, I thought it would be painful and disgusting but it was soothing and painless," she said.

"That's because vampires inject a chemical into the bloodstream that numbs the area and keeps the blood flowing," the Doctor said. "Which I'm sure you won't find in your book there but I told you before that vampires don't want panicky people while they're feeding because the adrenaline makes the blood taste bad. I'm glad you had a pleasant experience but I still hated doing that to you and if I hadn't been severely injured I would have refused. I told you I don't want to condemn you to this even if I can't find a way back. But it's your life…or undeath, I suppose, and if you want it badly enough, I will oblige. Just know what you're getting into before taking the plunge, please."

"I will," Rose said, taking his hand. "Besides, I only meant if there was no way back for you. I don't want to do it and have you change back."

"Yeah, neither do I," the Doctor said.

"Although, you need to get your hairy palms before I believe you really are a vamp," Rose teased.

The Doctor chuckled at that and winked as he laid her palm against his cheek and she let out a fake squeal. He watched her lovingly for a moment while she returned to her book and her bread before he turned his attention back to the villagers.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

The Doctor and Rose sat on the bench, crowd watching and looking for any signs of abductions but nothing happened. The Doctor perused the book when Rose quit reading, speed reading and Rose giggled when he kept snorting at the bogus facts about vampires.

"I wasted my yoyo for this rubbish?" he said when he finally closed the book.

"It's entertaining rubbish?" Rose offered.

She laughed when the Doctor rolled his eyes at that. He pointed ahead of him and they saw Frida coming towards them, her basket in her left hand. She smiled as they stood up.

"I brought you some food," she said, holding the basket out to the Doctor.

"Thank you. I'm not hungry but Rose might enjoy your food," the Doctor said.

Rose thanked her and took the basket. She looked inside and saw some bread, cheese and a bit of sausage. Frida asked them to sit down and she stood in front of them when they sat back down.

"I snuck away from my house," Frida said.

"You shouldn't have done that," the Doctor said. "You might get in trouble."

"I know but…I want to help because my best friend was taken two years ago and I don't know where she is."

"Oh God," Rose said. "How old is she?"

"Eleven, same as me. She was nine when they took her," Frida said.

"What happened?" the Doctor said.

"We went out to market like I did today and when we were at market we got separated a bit and when I looked for my friend after I'd gotten what I needed, I couldn't find her."

"How do you know that these people that tried to take you today took her?" the Doctor said.

"Because she wasn't the only one and people have seen that woman before."

"The one that tried to take you?" Rose said.

"Yeah. They think she's one of the countess's servants. There are others though. There's three or four. They drive through the village and look down on everyone."

"And everyone's who been abducted, are they young women and girls?" the Doctor said.

Frida nodded. Then she thought a moment.

"No wait, there was one man who disappeared too," she said. "He spoke out against the countess."

"And her spies overheard him?" Rose said.

"I think so, yeah," Frida said. "That's why we have to be careful here. There are some people who have been offered money and jewels to be the countess's spies so you have to be wary of everyone."

"What was your friend's name?" the Doctor said.

"Gizella."

"Frida, we'll do everything we can to get her back and anyone else who might still be alive," the Doctor said. "But in order to do that, we might have to sneak into the countess's castle and investigate."

Frida turned nervous eyes up to the castle and the Doctor put his hand on her shoulder.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," the Doctor said.

"No, I want to do this. I want to stop these people from hurting us again," Frida said.

"Then we have to find a way to get into the castle and look around without anyone seeing us," Rose said.

"Maybe I can do that. People send young girls to be servants if they can't afford to feed them."

"They do that when the countess is killing them?" Rose said, shocked.

"Not everyone believes it's the countess. Some believe it's vampires and the women are vampires or their servants. Some people might believe the countess is killing people but they're so poor they don't have a choice. Boys are worth more than girls here so unless you can marry a girl off to a wealthy man, there's not much use for them."

Rose glanced at the Doctor who was seething at that.

"I don't believe that," the Doctor said. "I have many friends who are women and they're not worthless. Being poor and not having enough food is a shame but sending a girl to be a slave and possibly be abused and killed is still unacceptable. But you're implying you go up to the castle and offer yourself as a servant? Are you okay with that? That woman might be there and see you."

"Then she won't come to the village and harm others," Frida said with a shrug. "If she's looking for me, I might as well go to her and help you out."

"Your father is wrong. You're not worthless. You're very brave," the Doctor said admiringly. "If you want to do this, we can help you. We'll sneak into the castle since I'm sure everyone will be focused on you and perhaps we can meet up inside."

Frida nodded and the Doctor patted her on the shoulder as he and Rose stood up.

"Come on, let's get to the bottom of these abductions and stop them once and for all," he said to Frida.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

While they were walking, Rose slowed the Doctor down a bit and he gave her a quizzical look.

"Are you going to tell her?" she whispered, knowing he could hear her clearly.

"What?" he whispred back.

Rose opened her mouth and pointed to her canine. The Doctor gave her an "Are you kidding me?" look.

"She should know. She's going to be helping us and we might need your…abilities," Rose whispered. "What's she gonna think if you start flying around?"

"Rose, they think my kind are evil," the Doctor hissed back.

"She's intelligent. She'll believe you if you tell her you're not like that. I'll help you," Rose whispered back.

"Your funeral," the Doctor muttered. "Just don't let her stake me."

"Done," Rose said before hurrying to catch up to Frida.

She stopped her and told her that they had something important to say to her. Frida followed quietly when they walked behind a house. The Doctor followed them, hoping Rose knew what she was doing. When they were away from the other villagers, Rose knelt down and lay the book and the basket down on the ground while the Doctor stood beside her.

"I want you to trust us," Rose said to Frida.

"I do trust you. You are nice people," Frida said.

"Okay. Well, then please hear us out because the Doctor here has a secret, a big one."

Frida looked at the Doctor and he smiled warmly at her, hoping they weren't about to lose an ally. Frida looked back at Rose.

"You know what you were saying about vampires?" Rose said to her.

Frida gave her a blank look.

"She means nosferatu. Vampires are another name for them," the Doctor said.

Frida nodded and shrugged.

"Yes. I know what I said about them," she said to Rose.

"Do you believe they're evil? All of them?" Rose said.

Frida nodded, confused about where Rose was going with this.

"Well, I want to tell you that they're not all evil. There are good nosferatu as well," Rose said.

Frida was taken aback by that.

"How do you know?" she said.

"Because you're looking at one right now," Rose said, pointing up to the Doctor.

Frida looked at the Doctor and he knelt down to her.

"He doesn't look like a corpse," Frida said to Rose.

"It's because I have makeup on," the Doctor said. "I concealed my pale skin to blend in here. But Rose is right, I am a good person and I won't hurt you."

Frida looked unsure and the Doctor thought she was wondering whether or not to run. He held up his hand.

"I give you my word that I won't hurt you," the Doctor said. "I don't take the blood of humans," he added, trying not to think of all the times in the past he did just that.

"How do I know you're nosferatu?" Frida said.

The Doctor looked around and Frida gasped when he levitated a few feet off the ground. Frida gave Rose a panicked look but she laid her hand on Frida's shoulder.

"He won't hurt you. He's a good person. He wants to change back into a normal person and he's trying to find a cure but for the moment he wants to help find out what's going on here."

Frida calmed down a bit when she gazed at Rose's face. The Doctor came back down to the ground and Frida tentatively touched his hand.

"It's cold, very cold," Frida said to him.

"Yes. And I have no heartbeat."

"Then how will you find a way to become living again?" Frida said.

"I don't know but I'm not giving up until I try," the Doctor said. "But for now I have to muddle through and make the best of a bad situation. So do you believe me about being a good nosferatu?"

Frida considered that. She took the Doctor's hand and he smiled at her. Frida gazed at his face and nodded.

"I think you're good," she said.

"Good. The reason we told you this is because I may need my nosferatu abilities once we reach the castle and we didn't want to alarm you," he said.

"Is the countess nosferatu?" Frida said.

"I don't know, I honestly don't but she kills young women like yourself and drains their blood and bathes in it. So she's evil at the very least and we need to stop her."

"Then the story is true," Frida said breathlessly. "She does bathe in blood."

"Yes. And I have a feeling that would have been your fate. I only hope it wasn't Giselle's as well," the Doctor said. "But this book Rose has," he added, tapping the cover. "I looked through it and there's some things that are correct but most of it is rubbish and superstition. And I wasted my yoyo just so Rose could get it…as a joke, I expect," he said, looking at Rose while she giggled. "But please don't tell anyone else what we've said. We don't want the villagers trying to stake us, okay?"

Frida nodded and the Doctor squeezed her hand. He stood up and Frida took her hand.

"Could you pick me up and fly like you just did?" she said.

Rose chuckled when the Doctor beamed at that. He picked her up and Frida laughed when he levitated about ten feet in the air. The Doctor was pleased that she wasn't frightened and seemed enchanted by being so high up. The Doctor slowly came back down and put her down.

"Can you turn into bats?" Frida said.

"No, sadly that's not one of my abilities. But I do have super speed and all my senses are sharper than any human's. Now that I've proven who am I and that I'm not a threat. I have a small addition to your plan. One that will allow Rose and me to come into the castle with you."

"Really? What?" Rose said.

"No offense, Frida, the servant girl plan is a good idea but I have a feeling that woman does work for the countess and I don't think she'd believe you would come asking to be a servant girl after getting away from her," the Doctor said.

"Then what shall we do?" Frida said.

"I propose this, my partners in crime. I think Rose and I will go with you and pose as your parents. We will go directly to the gate and tell them that we wish to see the countess because you were nearly abducted and we think someone working for the countess has something to do with it. That would explain our saving you before and that way we wouldn't have to sneak inside. What'd ya think?"

Frida nodded enthusiastically.

"You're very brave. I like that because we're facing terrible danger if we do this and we're risking our lives, including me, since I can be killed. But you don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"I know. But I want to do it and I want to find out what she did to Giselle," Frida said.

The Doctor nodded.

"We'll do all we can to find out the truth and try to find her," he said. "But for now, let's put the book and basket somewhere and start walking towards the castle."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

The Doctor, Rose and Frida walked up the dirt path towards the castle. While they walked, the Doctor took the front while he kept his senses alert for any soldiers. Frida walked with Rose.

"How long have you known him?" she asked Rose while she pointed to the Doctor.

"Several years now. I met him before he became nosferatu though," Rose said.

"Did the countess change him?" Frida asked.

"No. He was in England when it happened," Rose said. "This bloke called Ian made it happen and controlled him for awhile unti l he broke free of it."

"Where is England?"

"It's west of here. It's an island beside Europe," Rose said.

"I've never heard of it but I don't know many things beyond the village," Frida said.

The Doctor stopped them near a tall tree. He told Rose to watch over Frida and Frida watched in amazement as he drifted upwards, keeping close to the tree trunk while he flew up. The Doctor stopped near the top and turned towards the castle, putting his hands in his pockets while he scanned the castle and the surrounding grounds. Frida shielded her eyes with her hand and craned her neck up to look at him.

"He is amazing," Frida said to Rose.

"Yes, he is," Rose said.

"I have never known there were good nosferatu," Frida said. "I thought all of them were monsters."

"Nah, not him. He fights monsters," Rose said.

The Doctor floated back down after several minutes.

"No guards outside the grounds," he said to them. "I couldn't see any in the forest either. I didn't go higher for fear someone would see me so I don't know about the courtyard but at the moment we just have to worry about getting up to the front door."

"Frida thinks you're amazing," Rose said.

The Doctor grinned and bowed at that. He had a thought and whispered something in Frida's ear. Frida's eyes widened and she nodded. The Doctor picked her up and Rose thought he was going to fly with her. But suddenly he vanished from sight and Rose blinked in shock.

"Hullo there!"

She heard the Doctor behind her and turned to see him five feet behind her holding a giggling Frida in his arms. Then he vanished again and Rose heard him calling to her again behind her while Frida laughed. She turned.

"I'm not over there, I'm over here," he said to her. "Or…"

He vanished again and Rose turned around to see the Doctor was back in the same place he was before.

"Finally, you twigged to what I was doing," the Doctor said, setting Frida's feet down on the ground.

"Yes, I finally realized you were using your super speed to run around me," Rose said.

"She's rather slow but lovable," the Doctor said to Frida.

"Can you take us up to the castle like that?" Frida asked.

"Rose? Fancy the quick way?" the Doctor said.

"Beats walking there," Rose said.

The Doctor picked Frida up in his right arm and put his arm around Rose, lifting slightly off the ground so her feet were out of the way. He turned towards the castle and Rose gasped when suddenly the world became a blur for her. The wind whipped her hair around as the Doctor flew quickly towards the gates. It was over in thirty seconds and when Rose's mind caught up with her body, she noticed they were standing behind a large tree near the gates of the castle. The Doctor peeked around it and nodded.

"Just making sure there were no guards there," he said to them. "Didn't want to just suddenly appear in front of someone. Okay…so, is everyone ready then?"

Frida and Rose nodded and the Doctor beckoned for them to follow him. He walked up to the high wall surrounding the castle. There was a wooden door with an iron gate down in front of it. The Doctor scratched his head, trying to find a way to alert someone of their presence.

"Is there a doorbell?" the Doctor said, walking to the side of the gate. "Bellpull?Butleryou can kick in the arse? What?"

"Maybe everyone's out looking for us," Rose said.

"Yes. But…they left this unguarded?" the Doctor said.

"People don't come up here," Frida said. "They're too afraid."

"So she doesn't post guards anywhere? That's confidence," the Doctor said. "Okay, plan B then. HEY!" he bellowed up at the castle. "LET US IN, WE WANT TO SPEAK WITH SOMEONE! HEEEEEY!"

He waited and listened and then reached through the iron bars of the gate and pounded on the door as loudly as he could. Which wasn't very loud since the wood was very thick. He yelled up at the castle again and then he heard the sound of scraping wood on the other side of the door and he stepped back to stand with Rose and Frida. The door slowly opened until it was halfway open and then a man peeked out. He was slightly overweight with short black hair and a full black beard. His piercing blue eyes narrowed when he saw the three strangers.

"Yes?" he said to them.

"I want to speak to someone," the Doctor said, coming forward. "My daughter was nearly abducted today in the village and I have reason to believe the countess's servants are responsible. My wife and me want to speak to the countess so we can find the woman and hold her responsible!"

The guard looked nonplussed and the Doctor figured this was the first time anyone, anywhere ever came up to the front door and demanded to see the countess. The guard stared at the Doctor for a moment and he could tell he was unsure what he should do.

"Damn it, man, I want satisfaction!" the Doctor said, trying to take advantage of his confusion. "Are we going to see the countess or not?"

The Doctor noticed the guard was now looking directly at Frida and he noticed a slight smirk on his face. The Doctor couldn't read his mind but he guessed that the guard was noticing just how young Frida was and thinking that the countess might be interested in her since he wasn't sure what to do about the angry parents.

"Wait here," the guard said gruffly before he closed the door back.

"So…I think I just blew his mind," the Doctor said, turning to Rose. "I don't think anyone has come here demanding to hold anyone accountable for anyone's deeds here and he wasn't sure how to respond to me. He seemed interested in Frida though and I'm betting he'll tell the countess we have a young girl with us."

"So what do we do?" Rose asked.

"Just stick together if possible," the Doctor said. "At least try to stay with Frida. I don't want her being separated because I have a feeling we'll never see her again except as part of Her Royal Vampness's bath."

Rose nodded. She put her arm around Frida and the Doctor paced back and forth in front of the door while they waited. Twenty minutes later, they heard the door opening and the Doctor stopped his pacing and turned towards the door. The guard opened it fully this time and turned a crank on his side of the wall. The gate raised upwards and when it was completely up, the guard told them to follow him while he took them to the countess.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Rose crossed the courtyard with the Doctor and Frida. As they headed for another heavy wooden door, she glanced at the walled in green space and grimaced when she imagined it filled with frozen maidens in grotesque poses. She hoped she and Frida didn't share that fate. As they neared the door, the Doctor made a face and covered his nose with his hand. It took a moment for Rose to realize he still smelled the stale blood.

"Cor, can't they give this castle a good hose down?" the Doctor muttered to Rose as he pinched his nose shut. "I'm not breathing and I can still smell the stench."

The guard banged hard on the wooden door and it creaked open. The Doctor noticed that none of the guards were the ones he confronted earlier and for that he was thankful. He hoped none of them would recognize him. He tried not to look too conspicuous and he put his hand down but the smell overpowered him and he had to fight the urge not to vomit. He loved the smell of fresh blood but stale blood was repulsive to him.

The guard stopped them when they reached a large hall filled with antique furniture, tapestries and paintings. He told them to wait and he left the room.

"See, these people are paler than I am," the Doctor said to Frida, pointing to a large painting of an elderly woman dressed in a blue velvet dress.

"You're not pale," Frida said.

"That's because I'm wearing makeup."

He pulled down his shirt slightly and showed her the pale skin underneath it. Frida made a face and gingerly touched it.

"You're very cold," she said as he let go of his shirt.

"So you keep saying but you feel hot to the touch," he said, putting his finger on her forehead.

The guard returned followed by Elisabeta who was dressed in a floor length red velvet dress that had lace trim. Her long brown hair was piled up on top of her head in a loose bun and she was wearing a pearl choker around her neck. Her fingers had several gold rings on them and she wore black velvet slippers. She stopped behind her guard and looked everyone over.

"My guard tells me you wish to speak to me?" she said, her lip curling in disgust at the thought of peasants speaking to her like equals.

"Yes. Our daughter was nearly abducted today from the village down below," the Doctor said.

Elisabeta waited, an annoyed look on her face.

"You did not address me properly," she finally said to the Doctor.

"I said, my daughter was nearly abducted…"

"I heard what you said," Elisabeta snapped. "Why should I care if some dirty peasant steals another peasant?"

"Because we have reason to believe the abductor came from this castle," the Doctor said, trying to control his temper.

Elisabeta raised her eyebrow.

"Oh? And what proof do you have?" she said mockingly.

"None. But if you'll let us see your female servants…" the Doctor said.

Elisabeta held up her hand.

"You have no business here," she said dismissively. "You have no proof and you bore me with your talk of abduction. I don't care about you or your daughter just as I don't care what happens to you in your little village. That is no concern of ours. Now go away and…"

"Countess!"

Elisabeta turned and saw Dorottya standing in the doorway. When Elisabeta and the guard weren't looking, Frida tugged on the Doctor's shirt sleeve and pointed at Dorottya.

"That's her," she whispered.

The Doctor nodded, watching with narrowed eyes while Dorottya walked over to her servant. Dorottya was whispering but his hearing picked up what she was saying with no problem and he listened while Dorottya informed her mistress that Frida was the girl that got away from her in the market. He looked at Elisabeta when she said that and saw understanding dawning on her face. Elisabeta thanked her servant and turned back to the Doctor, Rose and Frida.

"My servant was gathering some food for me at the market today and saw what happened and thought she might be able to identify your abductor," Elisabeta said to them. "She wishes to speak to you," she said, pointing to the Doctor. "Your wife and daughter can wait in our dining room. My servants will find them something to eat."

The Doctor didn't buy that for a second but he trusted Rose to handle herself while he confronted the countess so he agreed to her proposal. He saw fear in Frida's eyes and bent over to her.

"Rose will keep you safe," he whispered in her ear. "I will get to you as soon as I can. But right now I want to get the countess alone and find out if she really is nosferatu. Will you be brave for me?"

Frida nodded and the Doctor gave her a tender kiss on the forehead and moved in close to Rose.

"I don't think I have to tell you not to eat anything they serve you," he whispered to her.

Rose nodded and he squeezed her hand. She whispered good luck to him and he did the same and asked her to be vigilant and look after Frida. Rose nodded and he squeezed her hand one more time before he walked over to Elisabeta. Elisabeta stepped back when he got too close and the Doctor kept himself from snorting at that. Elisabeth had Dorottya call for two more guards and when they came in the room, Elisabeta told them to escort Rose and Frida to the dining room and tell the cook to feed them. The guards bowed their heads briefly before walking over to Rose and Frida. Rose took Frida's hand and looked back over her shoulder at the Doctor before she and Frida followed the guards out another door. The Doctor watched them go before he looked at the countess.

"Alone at last," he said to her.

"Yes," the countess said tersely. "I must ask you to address me as countess when you speak. Show the respect that is due me."

"Really? Because I believe respect isn't automatic, a person must earn the right to be respected," the Doctor said.

He resisted the urge to laugh at the shocked looks on Elisabeta and Dorottya's faces.

"Are you usually this impudent," Elisabeta said.

"Pretty much, yeah," the Doctor said.

He gave them a mild look when the two women scowled at him.

"That's the trouble with peasants. Some of them don't know their station in life and think they can rise above it," Elisabeta growled.

"Oh, but you see, I'm not Hungarian. I'm a traveler so I don't have to kowtow to you," the Doctor said.

"I am nobility!" Elisabeta said. "I am a countess."

"And I'm a lord so show me some respect and deference," the Doctor said.

Elisabeta and Dorottya laughed at that.

"You're a lord? Of where?"

"I am Sir Doctor of TARDIS," the Doctor said.

"And where is TARDIS?" Elisabeta said.

"Oh, hither, thither and yon," the Doctor said airily. "So, "Countess" let's get down to business. Where is this wayward servant you mentioned?"

"Dorottya, fetch the offending servant," Elisabeta said to her.

Dorottya met the Doctor's eyes and he smirked when she narrowed her eyes at him. She left the room and the Doctor put his hands in his pockets and looked around the room.

"So…you think by living here on high you can intimidate the peasantry and use them for your own devices?" he said.

"I don't know what you mean by that," Elisabeta said.

"I mean you aren't ignorant of what your servants do. I have heard stories about you even from far away."

"And what have you heard, "My Lord?" Elisabeta said mockingly.

"I've heard stories that you kill and torture young women and girls and drain them of their blood so you can have a beauty bath.

The Doctor saw an imperceptible flinch from Elisabeta before she laughed.

"Peasants tell such idiotic stories," she said dismissively.

"I'm not a peasant. I'm a lord, remember," the Doctor said. "And my daughter is nobility which means you and your castle can be prosecuted for the attempted abduction of Lady Frida."

"I have no fear of you," Elisabeta said.

But the Doctor could see a slight tremble when she looked into his eyes. She tried not to show it but the Doctor was a master of body language and he knew she was frightened of him. He also knew she was probably sensing something was not quite right about him but she couldn't put her finger on what and he was planning to use that to his advantage.

"Here's the culprit!" Dorottya said, shoving a frightened young woman into the room.

The Doctor studied the young girl. He could tell her shock and fear was genuine so he figured she wasn't in on the deception. He could also see telltale signs of abuse on her face, a couple of faint bruises on her cheeks.

"And this is…" the Doctor said, gesturing to the woman.

"Katalin, my youngest and most disobedient servant. She's the one besmirching my good name."

"It took everything the Doctor had not to laugh hysterically at that statement.

"And you're just totally ignorant of this young girl's activities. Even though she'd have to go through guards just to get outside the castle and the courtyard," the Doctor said.

"My servants go to market for me," Elisabeta said, raising her chin. "I don't go among the peasantry."

"So…Katalin goes down the hill, grabs a girl, drags her back up the hill, gets her past the guards somehow and…shoves her in the cupboard for safekeeping?" the Doctor said.

He looked at Katalin who still looked frightened. He sensed Katalin was told to go along with this…or else. He started to go to her to ask her about this but Dorottya stepped between her and him and glared at him.

"Katalin, is this true?" the Doctor said, ignoring the dirty look Dorottya was giving her. "Everything they're saying, is it true?"

Katalin glanced at the countess and shrank back from the look of warning she was giving her.

"You don't really expect me to believe you're blameless, countess," the Doctor said. "You know precisely what's been going on here and you're using your servants, willingly or unwillingly, to do your dirty work for you."

"And what will you do about it?" Elisabeta snarled. "You can't stop me!"

"Watch me," the Doctor said, his eyes boring into hers.

Then suddenly, the Doctor pushed Dorottya out of the way, grabbed Katalin and before anyone could stop him he used his super speed and left the room before anyone could comprehend what was happening.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Katalin gasped, her heart racing from the shock of being picked up and taken somewhere else in the blink of an eye. She realized they were near the back of the castle now but the Doctor managed to get there in the space of several eyeblinks. She looked at him and flinched when she saw his piercing gaze.

"I know you," he said to her.

Katalin swallowed hard.

"I…I don't think so," she said.

"No, I know you. I remember your name. You are the youngest of the countess's cronies. The one that was forced into helping her."

"How can you know this?" Katalin said, stepping away from him.

The Doctor smirked.

"Oh, I know what goes on here all too well," he said. "I know what your mistress does to young women and I know what they wanted with Frida when they tried to abduct her. You help her slaughter innocent people but unlike the other three, you were an unwilling participant, am I right?"

Katalin was speechless at how much he knew. The Doctor walked towards her and when Katalin tried to back away, he seized her arm.

"Are any still alive?" he growled at her.

He got into her face when she didn't speak and she winced when he grabbed her arm tighter.

"The countess is going to be brought to justice for what she's done and her accomplices are going down with her. However, I can show you mercy if you turn against her and help me," he said.

"Mistress is dangerous," Katalin said in a soft voice.

"I'm even more dangerous," the Doctor snarled at her. "Now answer my question, are any women still alive?"

"T…two, they're in the dungeon," Katalin said.

"Take me to them."

He jerked his head up when he heard the guards calling to each other to start looking for him and capture Rose and Frida.

"You see, they're already looking for you," Katalin said. "How long do you think you'll last…"

She gasped when the Doctor seized her around the waist and flew upwards. Katalin was horrified when his handsome face contorted into a demonic visage and she saw sharp fangs in his open mouth.

"Nosferatu," Katalin squeaked out.

"Bang on," the Doctor said in a deep voice. "And unless you help me, I'll make you my next meal. Got it?"

Katalin nodded meekly and the Doctor flew higher, his head inches from the stone ceiling. Katalin looked down and saw two guards run through the room but neither of them bothered to look up. Katalin looked at the Doctor and was surprise to see his face was back to normal.

"Why are you doing this?" Katalin said softly.

"Doing what? Helping the women imprisoned in here or holding you hostage?"

"Both."

"Despite what you may have heard, there are good nosferatu in the world. I do have compassion but at the same time I don't like people who won't help me. As for holding you hostage, I brought you back here to speak with you because I remembered that you weren't as bad as the others. In fact, you're not evil, just abused and bullied, is that so?"

Katalin nodded. She looked at him and his face softened and she thought about how handsome he looked. But she also remembered the seductive power of vampires and told him that. The Doctor chuckled.

"Yes, Rose tells me I'm quite the charmer," he said. "I'm not seducing you though and I have no interest in that. My hearts belong to another. I'm only interested in gaining your help. If you help me, I will protect you against the countess. Trust me; she's no match for me."

Katalin looked at the ground far below and thoroughly believed that.

"I ask for mercy," she said to him.

"I ask for you help and in return I will give mercy," he said. "You have done evil but I believe you are a good person, just an abused one that had no choice. However, there is a choice to be made now and you can choose to stand against what the countess and her servants are doing. Save the women that can be saved and help me bring her to justice and you won't face any tribunal. So, what is your decision?"

Katalin thought about that. At last she did have a chance to get back at the countess and her servants for everything they did to her. She hated herself for participating in their evil schemes and she didn't know if she could live with herself afterwards.

"Can you kill me if I help you?" she said.

"Kill you?" the Doctor said, frowing.

"I deserve death. Take my blood and let me die," Katalin said.

"I don't want your blood and I don't want your death," the Doctor said. "If you wish to take your own life after I'm gone, that's your decision but I don't kill unless absolutely necessary. I understand the guilt you have…all too well in fact but you're young and you can do so much good in the world and counteract what you've done here. You must live your own life but I'd rather you didn't kill yourself over this. Not when you can make a difference."

Katalin thought about that and nodded. The Doctor smiled and looked down before bringing her back down to the ground.

"Now…first things first, where did they take Rose and Frida?" he asked.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"Rose, what do we do?" Frida said as she and Rose backed away from the three guards coming into the dining hall.

Rose looked around and saw a heavy wooden chair by a nearby table. She ran to it and tried to lift it up but she could only get it a foot off the ground because it was heavy and bulky. Frida ran to her and grabbed the legs and helped her.

"They come near us, we start throwing chairs at them," Rose said softly to her.

Frida nodded. They walked backwards with the chair while the guards chuckled and slowly followed them.

"You might as well surrender, there's no way you can win," one of the guards said as each of them withdrew their swords from their scabbards.

"We're not the surrendering type," Rose said. "Back up and leave us alone or we'll kill you with these chairs."

The guards looked at each other and guffawed at that. They quickened their pace and Rose glanced back and noticed they were near the back wall now.

"Too late, love, you're nearly up against a wall," the guard said. "Surrender and we won't have our way with you and your daughter."

Rose was about to tell Frida to throw the chair when suddenly the guard was knocked backwards by an unseen force. The other two guards had just enough time to see their unconscious friend hit the floor before both of them were knocked sideways with a force great enough to also knock them out. Then Rose saw the Doctor standing there with a smug look on his face.

"Surrender and we won't have our way with you," he said teasingly.

"I'm so glad you can do that," Rose said, breathing a sigh of relief while she and Frida put the chair down.

"I am as well. Being a vampire is nice at times. Katalin, come inside," he said over his shoulder.

Katalin tentatively stepped into the room, shocked at what she just witnessed.

"Rose, Frida, this is Katalin, one of the countess's servants," the Doctor said. "She has agreed to help us in exchange for leniency. According to her there are two women still in the dungeon."

"Giselle, is one of them Giselle?" Frida asked.

"Her friend was taken two years ago, a little girl of nine, is she one of the captives?" the Doctor said.

Katalin shook her head.

"No one has lasted two years here," she said. "They either die in the dungeon or they're tortured and killed. The women in the dungeon have been here maybe two, three weeks."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said, laying a hand on Frida's shoulder when she saw the heartrending look on her face.

Then suddenly Frida dashed to Katalin and she was shocked when Frida smacked her cheek hard.

"You burn in Hell for what you did here!" Frida yelled at her.

The Doctor came up behind Frida and put his hands on her shoulders. Rose's heart went out to Katalin when she saw the guilt and despair on her face. Frida hit her so hard the handprint was still visible on her cheek and a tear was now streaking down it. Katalin sunk down to the floor and wept while the Doctor rubbed Frida's arm affectionately and bent down to her.

"I'm sorry," Katalin sobbed. "I do deserve to burn in Hell."

Rose walked up to her and bent down. She looked at Frida and took her hand while she rubbed Katalin's back with her other hand.

"Katalin, Katalin, shhh," the Doctor said, trying to stop her tears.

"I asked him to kill me but he won't do it," Katalin said to Rose. "He wants me to live and be punished that way."

Rose looked at the Doctor as he let out a ragged sigh. She imagined he was thinking of Gallifrey when she said that and being punished for what he did by being alive. She looked at Frida and noticed that her anger was gone and she was also anguished by Katalin's despair.

"She's not evil," Frida said to Rose.

"No, she's not. She was forced to do evil but you're not evil, Katalin. If you were evil, you wouldn't be filled with guilt and sobbing on the floor and begging for death," the Doctor said gently. "Listen, I can help you find a new life after this is over. I can take you somewhere where no one will know you and you can have a fresh start. Would you like that?"

Katalin thought it over.

"No one would know me?" she said softly.

"Not a soul. You can start a brand new life and be free," the Doctor said. "Do you want that?"

Katalin nodded and the Doctor squeezed her shoulder.

"I'll do it if you continue to help us," the Doctor said. "Think of it as making amends here and making a fresh start, yeah?"

"Yes," Katalin said.

"Good. Now stop crying, we still have work to do here," the Doctor said before helping Katalin to her feet.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

"Find them!" Elisabeta screamed as Dorottya, Ilona and Zsuzsanna stood in front of her. "Find all of them. Kill the man if you like but leave the women alive so I can use them! Now go!"

"But what about Katalin?" Dorottya asked.

"We'll deal with her later," Elisabeta said. "For now, I want you and the guards to find the intruders and capture them. Now go before I kill all of you for disobedience!"

The three women turned and left the room while Elisabeta grumbled and cursed under her breath.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Katalin watched while the Doctor and Rose removed their wigs. She was momentarily startled when the Doctor pulled off the prosthetic on his face and Rose had to point out that she and Frida thought he was pulling his face off for real. The Doctor explained what he was doing while he took the mask off. Then when he was through he discarded the face and pointed to his pale white face.

"See, this is my actual face," he said to them.

"Now you look like nosferatu," Frida said.

"Yes, I do. But the people in the paintings around this castle still have paler skin than I do."

"But it's daytime," Katalin said. "Nosferatu can survive in sunlight?"

"Um…well, I have this…magic amulet that protects me from sunlight," the Doctor said, glancing at Rose.

They heard the guards outside the room. The Doctor could tell they were coming towards it and he told the women to stay calm and wait before he floated up to the ceiling. The guards entered the room two minutes later and froze when they saw the women. There were two of them, both of them young and inexperienced. The guards pulled out their swords and walked towards them.

"You will come with us," a blond headed guard said. "You will not resist."

"What if we do resist?" Rose said, folding her arms over her chest.

"Then…we will render you unconscious," his brown haired companion said in a high-pitched voice.

"Blimey, how young are you? Your voice hasn't even broken yet. Are you nine or something?" Rose mocked him while Frida laughed. "Shouldn't you put the sword down before you cut yourself?"

She could tell the man wasn't used to having a woman talk back to him by the mild shock on his face.

"You heard me, little boy. I've faced down more threatening things than you and your friend so you might as well put down your sword and go and play out in the garden like a good little tot."

"You will be silent!" the blonde said.

"You have a deeper voice so apparently puberty did reach you," Rose said. "But you're still young. I'm more than a match for you two ASBOs so put down your swords and surrender to us before I command my vampire to hurt you."

The two men stared at her in confusion.

"ASBOs" the dark haired man said. "What's an ASBO?"

"You, you're one," Rose said, pointing at him. "And that's a pity because it's always sad when a toddler becomes a menace to society. So go back to the nursery, Yobbo, before I call my vampire to me."

The two men stared at her in befuddlement and Rose snickered at the confused looks on their faces.

"Didn't you hear me, chavs? I said go away or my vampire will bite your necks."

"What is a vampire?" the blonde said.

"Oh okay, nosferatu then since you don't know the other word. I have my own personal nostferatu and if you gits don't clear off, he's gonna get ya!"

The men now gave her withering looks while the Doctor slowly came down behind them. Rose glanced at Frida who was now giggling and the Doctor winked at her.

"Yeah, the big scary nosferatu is gonna get you," Frida taunted them.

"And where is this nosferatu guardian?" the blonde taunted back.

"AHEM!"

The guards jumped and spun around. Their mouths dropped open when they saw the Doctor floating a few feet off the ground.

"Howdy-do, ASBOs," he said. "And now, goodnight!"

He grabbed the guard's heads and rammed them together. The guards grunted and lost consciousness before the Doctor let go and watched them drop to the floor. He floated up and then floated over to Rose and floated down so his feet were inches above her head. Frida laughed while Rose rolled his eyes and the Doctor did a few dance steps.

"He's dancing on your head, Rose," Frida said.

"He better not kick my head while he dances or I'm taking off his manhood and putting it down his throat," Rose said.

The Doctor rotated his body until his head was directly above Rose's head. He put his hands behind his back and hovered there while Frida giggled harder.

"How do you do that?" Katalin asked after getting over her astonishment.

"Dunno. I just can," the Doctor said with a shrug before he raised himself up higher, righted himself and came down beside Rose. "I'm trying to become human again but in the meantime, I'm enjoying these little quirks of mine. They come in quite handy, isn't that right, chavs?" he said to the unconscious guards.

"Can you become a bat?" Katalin asked.

"For the zillionth time, no," the Doctor said while Rose laughed. "I do not shape shift in any way. The people who write the stupid lore books get many things wrong. But enough talk. Let's go find the countess and her cronies, shall we?"

He went up again and glided above them while the three women walked out of the dining hall. He tried to keep to the shadows, looking down and keeping watch over the three women. They encountered one more guard and Rose kept him busy by talking while he positioned himself over the guard, raised his fist and came down fast, slamming it onto the top of his head. The guard collapsed to the floor and the Doctor went up again. They walked on until Dorottya, Ilona and Zsuzsanna ran into them as they turned a corner up ahead. Everyone froze and the Doctor went into a horizontal position and positioned himself up against the ceiling while he watched. The three servants of the countess were looking at Katalin who returned the look with a look of defiance.

"Where is the man who took you?" Dorottya snarled at her and why are you with them?

"I don't know where the man is and I've switched sides," Katalin said haughtily, knowing that she had a secret weapon and new friends to give her support.

"I told you she was no good," Ilona said to her friends. "I told you she'd betray us one day!"

"Perhaps she's not a stupid, waste of space tart like the rest of ya," Rose said. "Perhaps she's not a sadistic donkey's arse who gets pleasure out of other people's pain."

"You've changed your hair. You're the one that prevented me from taking her," Dorottya said, pointing to Frida.

"Bang on, Brothel Bitch, I did," Rose said smugly. "I'm glad I did since Frida is a wonderful person, unlike you who belongs in a rubbish bin with your friends and your employer."

"How dare you talk to me like that!" Dorottya snarled at her.

"I'll talk to you any way I like, chav," Rose drawled while Frida giggled. "Stupid, inbred, loser, tart, donkey arse, bitch!"

Dorottya froze. She coulda sworn she heard laughter coming from above. But when she looked up, she didn't see anything. But she wasn't in time to see the Doctor fly quicker than lightning out of the room. When Dorottya looked down, he flew back and stuck his tongue out at her.

"What's wrong, tart, hearing things?" Rose said. "Perhaps it's the ghosts of all the people you helped kill, you wanker, git, whore, dog, cow!"

"Daughter of a whore!" Frida added gleefully.

"Cruel idiot!" Katalin said.

Dorottya screamed at her friends to get them. They started to run to them but they stopped short and gasped when the Doctor came down between them, hands in his trouser pockets.

"Howdy-do, donkey arse, bitch, whore, chav," he said gleefully. "Welcome to your worst nightmare!"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

"What is this?" Dorottya said.

"This…bitch, whore, chav, is a representative of the local Hungarian Nosferatu Union. I have come to complain about all the women you are taking. It is depriving me and my fellow creatures of the night of our meals and brides. We wish you to stop doing this and surrender yourself forthwith."

Dorottya looked at Ilona and Zsuzsanna but the women were both struck silent by the Doctor hovering in the air in front of them. She looked at Rose and saw the smug look on her face.

"This is my bride," the Doctor said, pointing to Rose when he noticed Dorottya staring at her. "She submits to my every desire. KNEEL, SLAVE!" he bellowed.

Rose folded her arms over her chest while Frida snickered. The Doctor feigned annoyance while he looked at her and then shrugged.

"Of course, her hypnotic suggestion isn't that strong. I have to refine it," he said. "But anyway, I have come to order you and your mistress to stop the kidnapping and killing or you'll answer to me."

"You are nothing," Ilona said haughtily as she stepped forward. "You're not a fearsome nosferatu, you're an idiot."

"AM I?" the Doctor bellowed in a deep voice as his face shifted to demonic mode.

Dorottya, Ilona and Zsuzsanna screamed while Rose and Frida laughed hysterically. The three women turned and ran out of the room.

"Excuuuuse me!" the Doctor said to his friends before he flew out after them.

"He…he looked like a demon just then," Katalin said.

"Eh, it's just his face," Rose said, waving her hand dismissively. "He tries to scare me with it from time to time but I just laugh at him. But now that he's gone off after them. Let's go see to the people in the dungeon, eh?"

"Follow me," Katalin said before they turned and followed her out of the room.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"I HUNGER FOR BLOOD!" the Doctor bellowed in a deep voice as he flew after the panicky women. "THERE MUST BE BLOOD! I MUST HAVE SATISFACTION!"

"Mistress!" Zsuzsanna screamed as they ran, "help us!"

The Doctor roared at them and snickered when they ran full tilt towards the front of the castle. On the way, the women ran past an old guard and screamed at them to stop the Doctor. The Doctor showed the guard his demon face and roared at him and laughed when the guard spun around and sprinted away from him.

"I WILL HAVE BLOOOOOD!" the Doctor yelled as he slowed his pursuit so he could enjoy the sight of everyone running from him. "GET IN MA BELLY!" he added, imitating Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers films.

Then the women and guard ran into the room where Elisabeta was waiting and she got up from a gold ornate chair, intending to ask them what was going on but then the Doctor flew into the room, stopped and righted himself so he was standing in the air above them.

"Nosferatu!" Dorottya yelled, pointing to him.

The Doctor noticed the shock on Elisabeta's face.

"So…you're not a fellow nosferatu then?" the Doctor said, gliding over to her while the women and guard cowered behind her.

"Of course not, I'm not a demon like you," Elisabeta said.

The Doctor raised his eyebrow.

"Wow, you managed to say that with a straight face, I'm impressed," he said. "But I'm afraid County Countess, that you're far more a demon than I am."

"What do you mean?" the countess said.

"What do I mean? I mean…Thickety Thick, that I know about the murders and the bathing in the blood. You've killed hundreds of women and girls out of spite and vanity and you call me a demon?"

"And what do you do? You kill as well?" Elisabeta said.

"Not anymore and when I did, I wasn't in my right mind," the Doctor said. "You, however, know exactly what you're doing and now…it's going to stop," he said, coming down to the ground.

"How are you going to stop me?" Elisabeta said.

The Doctor cocked his eyebrow again and smirked.

"Are you serious? Is that a serious question?" he said, amused. "You're a human and I'm a nosferatu with unearthly abilities. Work it out, your worship, how I might be able to stop you!"

"Don't just stand there, get him!" Elisabeta said to the guard who was still cowering with the women.

"Yes. Come and get me, if you dare," the Doctor said mockingly to them.

He opened his mouth and showed them his fangs, pointing to them for emphasis. He came towards Elisabeta and smirked when she backed up.

"What's wrong? You haven't the guts to face someone stronger than you are?" he said to her. "I'm not tied down so I'm a threat now, unlike the innocent lives you destroyed over the years."

"Where is Katalin?" Elisabeta said.

"Katalin switched sides. I offered her a better life than this one and amnesty since you lot abused and bullied her into helping carry out your depravity."

"I am nobility," Elisabeta said, raising her chin.

The Doctor sniggered at that.

"You think I care?" he said. "I don't care if you're the queen of the universe, lady. You're gonna be brought to justice. Even a noble can be executed for her crimes. And her accomplices," he added, pointed looking at the women and the guard.

The Doctor enjoyed the fear he was instilling in everyone. He knew now there was no contest. Elisabeta was a mere mortal and couldn't touch him. This was just a bit of cat and mouse play before he finished with her and her friends. He took a step and reveled in the sight of everyone backing away from him. Then he heard Rose calling to him and he called back while he kept his eyes on his prey.

"My friends," he said to them. "And my new friend, Katalin. Guess she wasn't as loyal as you thought but people who are abused tend not to be."

"Doctor, one of the women in the dungeons are dead and the other is near death," Rose said when she, Katalin and Frida came into the room.

"So, one more women to add to the body count, eh countess? You seem to be piling up the bodies at an amazing rate. I'm sure the court will be interested to hear exactly how many you've killed over the years," the Doctor said. "What about the one near death?"

"We made her comfortable but we thought it best if you saw her first," Rose said, coming up beside him.

"Perhaps I can mend her in the TARDIS med bay. I hope so. There's been enough killing here as it is. So…countess…let's make this simple. Gather everyone into this room and march to the dungeons and stay there until the authorities can come and collect all of you or suffer the pain of me rending you all limb from limb while I feast on your blood. Your choice."

"I surrender!" the old guard said, raising his arms.

"Coward!" Elisabeta yelled at him.

She grabbed the sword from his scabbard and tried to attack the Doctor with it but the Doctor sped around her, grabbed her wrist and wrenched her arm around her, forcing her to drop the sword. The countess gasped as the Doctor kicked the sword away from her and opened his mouth over her jugular vein, hissing as his canines lengthened.

"No, please have mercy!" Elisabeta said.

"Why should I?" the Doctor said in his demon voice. "You never showed mercy to anyone else!"

Elisabeta began to sob and plead for her life. The Doctor let out a snort of contempt and shoved her to the floor.

"Get up and order everyone into this room," he said in his demon voice. "And once everyone is in here, you and your idiotic bunch of murderers will march to the dungeon and you will do it quietly or my feeding frenzy starts. Is that clear?"

"Go! Find the other guards!" Elisabeta screamed at her guard and accomplices. "Hurry!"

The women and guards sped out of the room while the Doctor forced Elisabeta to her feet.

"Pardon my pun but it must suck to find someone you can't bully into submission," the Doctor said in his normal voice.

"What will become of me?" Elisabeta said.

"I don't know and I don't care. If it were me, I'd chain your carcass to the wall and feed on you slowly, letting you slowly die. But I want your crimes to be known so your name will be known throughout history. I want history to remember you as the demonic bitch you truly are. Katalin…"

Katalin stepped forward when the Doctor called to her. He forced Elisabeta to the floor in front of her.

"Look at her now. The big bad wolf has been defanged," he said to Katalin. "She's nothing but a cowardly, cruel git who now fears for her life now that she's been caught."

Elisabeta grunted when Katalin slapped her face as hard as she could. Elisabeta glared at her but she smirked in return.

"He's right, you really are a pathetic coward and you're gonna get just what you deserve now."

Elisabeta started to lunge at her but the Doctor grabbed her shoulder and shoved her down while he used his demon voice to command her to sit.

"And I have a nosferatu for a friend now," Katalin said, "which is more than you ever had."

Frida walked up beside Katalin.

"And this is for Giselle, you killed her!" she yelled before she slapped her across the face.

"And this is just because you're a donkey arse bitch!" Rose said, slapping her after them.

"You know you could just say Ass Arse," the Doctor said to Rose. "Ass Arse has a nice ring to it."

"Nah, I prefer donkey. Besides I'm a lady," Rose said.

The Doctor laughed when Rose slapped Elisabeta again.

"Sometimes," Rose added with a twinkle in her eye.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

The guards slowly trickled into the room, including the ones the Doctor injured. The Doctor intimidated all of them with his demon face and voice, ordering them to stand in one corner. When everyone had been rounded up, he commanded everyone to march to the dungeon and he roared at them when they didn't move fast enough. He laughed when everyone practically stepped on each other to get out of the room and he flew above them, keeping his eyes on them while Rose, Frida and Katalin followed behind. They went down to the dungeon and the Doctor pinched his nose when the dried blood smell flooded his nostrils. Katalin opened one cell and half of them were crammed into it. Then she opened the one across the way and the rest were herded into it. Both doors were slammed shut and locked and the Doctor came down to the ground. Katalin showed him where the dead girl and the women near death were being held. Both were in cells near the back of the dungeon. The Doctor examined the one who was still alive. She had light brown hair that was in a loose braid. It was dirty and matted and filled with dirty straw. She was a child and she was breathing shallowly, her face pale and her body skeletal. The Doctor spoke to her gently, telling her that they would take her somewhere and heal her. He asked her name and she rasped out Ana. He asked Katalin and Frida to stay with her and Katalin gave him the keys. The Doctor and Rose went across the narrow passageway to the other cell. Inside was a little girl lying on her back, her sightless eyes staring blankly up the ceiling. The girl was about Frida's age and she was just as thin as Ana. Her jet black hair was lying like a dirty halo around her head and her arms were up by her head. She had olive colored skin and the Doctor could see how beautiful she was. The Doctor knelt down next to her and Rose put her hand on his shoulder. He called to Frida and when she came into the cell, he asked if she knew who the girl was.

"No, I've never seen her before," Frida said, shaking her head.

"D'ya think we might be able to find her family?" Rose asked.

The Doctor gently picked up the little girl and asked Rose and Frida to follow her. He walked down to the cell containing the countess and stopped in front of it.

"Who is this? Where did you find her? The village?" he demanded.

"Dorottya?" the countess said, looking over at her while the Doctor shifted his gaze towards her.

"She was stolen from a gypsy campsite in the middle of the night. I don't know who she is. We never bothered to learn her name."

The Doctor growled at her and Dorottya shrank back in fear. But the Doctor stomped away with Rose and Frida before he did anything to her.

"Gypsy. So we may never find her family," he said to Rose and Frida while they walked back to the empty cell. "I want to give her a funeral then. She deserves that much after all she's been through. For now though, I want to take Ana out of here and get her to the TARDIS. Frida, can you go get the authorities and tell them to come here? Make them follow you, yeah?"

Frida nodded. He looked at Katalin.

"Can you go with her and add your testimony?" he asked.

"But what if they arrest me as well?" Katalin said, panicking.

"Tell them you were held hostage here, which is the truth," the Doctor said. "Frida, tell them that's the truth. Katalin has redeemed herself and I promised her clemency so convince them that she's just as much a victim as the others. And then we'll meet you both by that bench near the plaza. Yeah?"

They nodded and the Doctor asked his friends to carry the dead girl's body while he looked after Ana.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

On the way back to the village, the Doctor and Rose guided their friends to the TARDIS. The three women took turns carrying the dead girl while the Doctor carried Ana and kept watch over her. Katalin and Frida were shocked when the Doctor had Rose open the TARDIS door and they followed them inside.

"What magic is this?" Katalin said in awe.

"It's bigger on the inside," Frida added.

"Yes, it's my combination coffin and home," the Doctor said while Rose chuckled. "Don't worry, everything's fine. Just follow us."

He led them to the med bay and diverted their attention when they looked around in awe at the space age interior. He asked them to put the dead girl on a bed in the corner while he laid Ana on an examination table. He put his hand on her forehead and softly apologized when she groaned at the pressure of the cold steel on her back. He asked Rose to fetch a blanket for her and she got one from the cupboard. He decided to keep Frida and Katalin in the TARDIS so they could help and he instructed them on where to find things while he started an IV drip for the dying girl. Katalin and Frida concentrated on the task at hand and the three women assisted the Doctor while he put an IV drip in and gave the woman a sponge bath and tried to make her comfortable. Rose tried to explain as best she could what the Doctor was doing with the drip while he used a syringe to put some pain medication into the plastic tube. The Doctor looked at Ana's hair, matted and dirty, and shook his head.

"We might have to cut some of this off," he said to Rose. "It's a mess and it would be better to get rid of some of it rather than hurt her by trying to comb through it. But for the moment we need to get her stabilized. Can you go with Frida and Katalin to the authorities while I do this? I can manage on my own now."

Rose nodded and the Doctor gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and wished her luck. He said his goodbye to the three women as they went outside and then he turned his attention fully to Ana. He worked quickly to stabilize her, asking the TARDIS to scan her body and help him. Ana watched him through half open eyelids, having only the strength to follow his movement with her eyes. He noticed she was watching him and smiled tenderly.

"Are you from the village?" he asked her.

"Yes," she said in a barely audible voice.

"Who are your parents?" he asked.

"I have none. My dad died when I was little and my mum was killed by the countess."

"How old are you?"

"Nine."

"I'm the Doctor, poppet, and you're safe now. I'm going to make you better, okay?" he said gently.

"Where will I go?"

"Do you have other family members?" the Doctor said.

"No."

"We'll think of something then. For the moment, I want you to rest and heal," he said, putting his hand on her forehead.

"You're cold," she murmured.

"I know. But I have a warm heart, two of them in fact. And I won't let anyone hurt you. Just rest and try to get some sleep."

"Where am I?"

"My hospital. It's a very special hospital. Are you uncomfortable?"

Ana nodded weakly and the Doctor asked the TARDIS to put some padding underneath her. Ana gasped when a soft body pillow appeared under her and she was raised up a foot off the table. The Doctor comforted her and asked if that was better. He smiled when she nodded and continued his work while Ana watched. But she was weak and couldn't keep her eyes open. The TARDIS heated the padding under her and added a massage feature. The padding vibrated gently and combining that with the warmth made Ana even more sleepy and she drifted off while the Doctor mentally thanked his ship for doing that for her.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Once Ana was stabilized and out of pain, the Doctor left her for a moment to tend to the dead girl. He cradled the corpse in his arms and walked down the passageway with her.

"Poor thing," he said, looking at her while he walked. "I'm sorry we couldn't save you in time but I will give you a dignified funeral and cremation."

He went into a morgue the TARDIS designed for him and gently laid her body on a metal table. He divided his time between cleaning and preparing her body and checking on Ana. He was pleased that Ana was resting peacefully and growing stronger and he added an antibiotic to the saline solution going into her vein along with more painkillers.

"You might have to stay with us for awhile," the Doctor said softly while she slumbered. "I want to make sure you're at the correct weight and completely healthy before I take you somewhere. You're in good hands now, poppet. I promise that."

He then walked back to the morgue and finished cleaning and dressing the dead girl. While he was doing that, the door opened and he looked up to see Rose.

"We went to the sheriff and the mayor," Rose said. "I helped explain what happened and I told them Katalin was a victim and made sure they knew she was blameless. I said I'd come check on ya. Katalin went with Frida to her house and the authorities are on their way to the castle right now. They also sent word to neighboring villages to ask if she stole people from other places."

"She must have. We have her," the Doctor said, laying the back of his hand against the dead girl's cheek. "She was stolen somewhere outside the village so I'm sure other villages had abductions. Taking them all from one village would have looked too suspicious. Besides, she wouldn't want to deplete the female population."

Rose walked up to the table and looked at the girl. She was clean, her long hair had been brushed and she was wearing a long white robe with white slippers.

"She's beautiful," Rose said.

"Yes, she is. I'm going to wrap her body in a shroud and cremate it, Gallifreyan style. The robe is Gallifreyan as well," he said, gesturing to it while he rummaged through a steel drawer at the back of the room. "We'll build a pyre for her on a distant planet and send her off with respect and reverence, something she should have had in life."

He walked over to her with a golden medallion on a gold chain. He asked Rose to raise her head up and he slipped it around the head and pulled her hair through. Rose lowered the head and he put the medallion on her chest. Rose noticed there was concentric circle writing on it.

"What's it say?" she asked, pointing to it.

"Honored dead," the Doctor said. "It's a medallion worn by those who died heroic deaths. Mark of respect. The metal will melt with the body and mix with the ashes."

"I like that, honored dead," Rose said.

She noticed the Doctor's eyes were shut and there was a flash and a bracelet hovered in the air before him. He opened his eyes, took it and thanked the TARDIS for making it. Rose noticed a series of small concentric circles on the gold band while he slipped it around her right wrist.

"And that says?"

"Romanadvoratrelundar or Romana for short. It's the name of an old friend. Not her real name but at least she'll have a name now. I just don't want her to be anonymous when we have the funeral."

"Romana. I like that," Rose said.

"It's also a close match to Roma which is the actual name for gypsies. I thought it fitting," the Doctor said. "She's ready now for the funeral. So we'll leave her here for the moment and check on Ana. Follow me," he said before they headed for the door.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

By the time Rose and the Doctor got back to the village, it was deserted. The villagers had gone to the castle with the authorities and the Doctor and Rose sat on the bench to wait for their friends. The Doctor thought they might have gone with the villagers until he finally saw them walking across the plaza towards them.

"Everyone seems to be gone now," the Doctor said to them.

"Yeah, the entire village went up there," Katalin said. "I think they all want revenge."

"I don't blame them. Years of pent up rage and now they have a chance to get back at the countess that took their women and flaunted her immunity in their faces. What about you, Frida, did your father beat you for leaving?"

"He's gone as well," Frida said. "So Katalin and me rested for a bit before coming back here. How is Ana?"

"Alive and improving," the Doctor said. "But she's an orphan with no family here. I told Rose we might take her with us when we leave. Watch over her until she's healthy again and find a loving home for her. And you," he said to Katalin. "I can take you anywhere you want to go…and I do mean anywhere. I can take you somewhere where they'll never know your name."

"I'd like that," Katalin said.

"How about England? Take her to your place," Frida said to Rose.

"You'd fit in there, lots of people from around the world go toLondonwhere I live. You wouldn't have to worry about being an outcast," Rose said.

"I don't know where that is but anywhere is better than here," Katalin said.

The Doctor and Rose stood up and they headed back to the TARDIS. On the way, the Doctor told them what he wanted to do with Romana's body and Frida asked if she could come and see the funeral."

"Well, sure. But you'll have to promise me to keep it a secret. At least some of it because I have the power to go through time and go into outer space and we're going to do both," the Doctor said to her.

"Outer space? Up there?" Frida said, pointing to the sky.

"Oh, much farther than that, farther than you can ever dream," the Doctor said with a gleam in his eye.

"Wow, you're not like the nosferatu I've heard about," Frida said.

"Yes, you're friendly," Katalin said.

"Eh, things are not always as they seem," the Doctor said with a shrug.

When they went inside the TARDIS, the Doctor closed the door. They went to check on Ana and found her awake.

"Hello, poppet, feeling better then?" the Doctor said while everyone gathered around her.

"A bit," Ana said.

"Well, you're going to stay with Rose and me for awhile till you get your health and weight back so you better be ready to have some fun and laughs when you get up and about," the Doctor said. "This is Frida and Katalin, they're our friends."

"Hello," Ana said.

Katalin and Frida waved and after the Doctor made sure she was comfortable and didn't need anything, he led everyone to the morgue. When they entered, the Doctor noticed Katalin's distress and he put his hand on her shoulder when he saw the tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry for everything I did," Katalin said.

"I know. I forgive you," the Doctor said before pulling her into a hug.

Rose put her hand on Katalin's back when she wept in the Doctor's arms.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"I know, trust me, I know what it's like to live with guilt. But you turned against the woman who did this to her and now she can't hurt anyone else. You're free now," the Doctor said gently as he held her close.

Katalin nodded and the Doctor smiled and hugged her tightly before letting go. Rose and Frida walked up on either side of her and took her hands while the Doctor walked over to a steel cabinet. He opened it and pulled out some red velvet ropes.

"This is also a mark of respect for Romana," he said to them. "I want to honor her in every way possible. Um…" he said, laying the ropes at his feet. "We can start the service here and then you can help me wrap her up for cremation. Normally, I would say the oration in Gallifreyan but the TARDIS won't translate it and I don't want to translate for you. So…"

He cleared his throat.

"We come here today to honor this woman who showed courage even in the face of death," he said solemnly while the others looked at Romana. "This young woman was abducted and abused in a horrific manner yet death has not tarnished her beauty and I'm sure she fought for life until the very end. We honor this courageous young woman who will be remembered by her family and friends even if no one else will. Sleep, young woman, and be at peace, your torment is at an end now."

The Doctor looked at his friends and asked if they wanted to say a few words. Katalin nodded.

"I hope that you forgive me and you are at rest. Please go on to Heaven and live in paradise and forget your worldly cares," she said. "That's all I wanted to say."

"Goodbye and may God bless you," Frida said.

"We're sorry that we couldn't reach you in time but we're honoring you now with a proper burial. Rest in peace," Rose said.

The Doctor smiled and nodded. They folded the shroud over her and the three women helped him lift the body, put the ropes around her and tie them tightly.

"Are you burning her body now?" Frida said.

"No, that comes later. I'm going to build a pyre for her and burn her there. But that's all there's left to do now. The funeral is over."

They stared at her body in silence for a moment before all of them left the room.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

After checking on Ana again and moving her to a more comfortable bed in a guest room, the Doctor took the TARDIS to a distant moon where they could burn Romana's body without interference. Rose had to explain what was happening while the TARDIS was in flight and she kept on explaining when they stepped out onto an alien planet. There were several large rocks near the TARDIS and one of them was large and relatively flat on top. The Doctor decided to put Romana's body on it so the fire would go out once her body had finished burning. The area around the rock was gravely and sandy so there was no danger of anything catching fire. The Doctor went back inside and brought her body out while the women watched. He laid it on the rock and went back inside. He came back out with a flaming torch and some accelerant in a can. He gave the torch to Rose and poured the accelerant on the shroud. Then at his command, Rose lit the body and put the torch on top of it when it ignited. They stepped back and watched while the body burned and lit up the night sky. There was one distant moon above them that gave off a little bit of light but the fire did most of the illumination. They stayed and watched for about a half hour before everyone decided to leave. With one last goodbye to Romana, they turned and got back into the TARDIS.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Goodbye, Doctor and Rose, I will miss you," Frida said after hugging them.

They were back in the village plaza five minutes after the Doctor left. The plaza was still deserted and it felt spooky now seeing the empty streets and houses.

"Have a wonderful life, Frida," the Doctor said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Good luck."

"I hope you can become normal again," Frida said.

"Me too. But at least I can still help people," the Doctor said.

"And I'll tell everyone that there are good nosferatu in the world so people won't come after you," Frida said.

The Doctor chuckled and hugged her again. Frida turned to Katalin and hugged her.

"I hope you can find a new life," she said to Katalin.

"Thank you. And thank you for being my friend," Katalin said.

"Thank you for helping to stop that woman. Now everyone will have a better life because they're all gone," Frida said.

Everyone got in one more hug before they finally took their leave of Frida. She stood by the TARDIS waving goodbye and then squealing in delight when it dematerialized and vanished. She walked over to where it had been, touching the air and feeling a bit of electricity that was slowly fading away. Grinning at the magic she'd just witnessed, she turned and headed for home.

XOXOXOXOXOX

"So, Katalin, you can go anywhere in time and space, where do you want to go?" the Doctor said.

"I want to see this London you spoke of."

"Okay, when do you want to go? I can take you to London in any time period you want," the Doctor said.

Katalin glanced at Rose.

"When did you live there?" she asked.

"2005 was when the Doctor first met me," she said.

"Can I go to 2005 then?" Katalin asked.

"You can but…you may be in for a shock since a lot changes between your time and 2005," the Doctor said.

"Then you can teach me? Prepare me so I won't be shocked?" Katalin said.

"Well, she can," the Doctor said. "She'd be a better teacher than I would when it comes to that."

"Can I stay for a bit with you until I learn?" Katalin asked.

"Blimey, we're suddenly filling up in here," the Doctor teased. "Let me ask you this then? Do you have a love for adventure?"

Katalin frowned.

"I've never really had adventure in my life before," she said.

"No? Awww, what a crime," the Doctor said while Rose giggled. "Are you brave?"

"No," Katalin said.

"I think you are, you stood up to the countess at long last," the Doctor said. "What I'm saying is, Rose and I are travelers. We explore and have adventures and if you want to stay with us for a bit, you can join us. We explore and fight evil like we just did with the countess. Interested?"

"Is it dangerous?" Katalin said.

"Ooooh, yeah!" the Doctor said gleefully while Rose laughed. "But Rose has been with me for awhile and she's still alive, which is more than I can say for me. She can show you the ropes and help you climb the ropes while she teaches you how to be a modern 21st century woman. Sound good?"

"That would be my payment for letting Rose teach me?" Katalin said.

"Your payment and consider it more redemption for you since you can continue to help others in need. How 'bout it?"

Katalin looked at Rose.

"Come on, we need more help," Rose said.

Katalin smiled and nodded.

"I'll do it," she said.

"Brilliant! So…my companion and newest companion, let's check on Ana and make sure she's okay and then perhaps find somewhere or somewhen to eat."

The Doctor held out his hands and Rose and Katalin took them and together they walked out of the console room.

THE END.


End file.
